State of Grace
by LiveInLoveAndLaughter
Summary: While working for Edison Davis's senatorial campaign, Olivia Pope meets the newest fixer on Sally Langston's campaign, Fitzgerald Grant. While the two go head-to-head politically, their personal relationship grows with each town hall meeting and county fair.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

 _ **AN: Okay my lovelies, I caved (as I usually do). I'm just very excited to play with this story, so here it is! Up far sooner than I expected it to be. So this is a little Olitz AU story. So for those of you who don't like stories where Fitz is not President or running for President, this is not for you... Because that is not happening in this story! Sorry! But I will say that I'm so excited to play with this version of these characters. So, I hope everyone enjoys a**_ **lot** _ **of Olitzness from start to finish! ~ XOXO MAS**_

* * *

 _I'm walking fast through the traffic lights_

* * *

The TV in the back room of the Edison Davis's Atlanta Headquarters was her latest enemy. She seethed as the screen flashed with Sally Langston and her husband feeding each other a piece of peach pie at a restaurant in Tifton. _Again_. She even kissed some of the whipped cream off his lips. _Gross._ Olivia pushed on the button hard so the TV flicked off and threw the remote onto the sofa she'd slept on more times than she cared to admit. Every news network had picked up the damn footage and every news network was showing it on repeat. The people loved that marriage could last so long and they could still be so in love. What a load of bullshit. Throwing open the door, she screamed out, " _Harrison_!"

A moment later a man in suspenders, a blue and white plaid button down, a bright pink and blue tie, blue slacks and tan shoes appeared eating an apple, "What's up, Liv?" He asked. His nonchalant attitude pissed her off even more than she already was. And the glimmer in his eyes told her that he knew it. _Smug bastard._

"Who is in charge of that campaign?" Olivia Pope pushed past a volunteer who appeared in the doorway with a new set of poll numbers without so much as a second glance. Harrison quietly shooed the young woman away, sending her a quick wink in the process. "They had a change in command, didn't they? Who is it? I want to know. And I want to know _now_. There is now way Billy Chambers could pull that shit off. He's nowhere near that good. He's so far out of my league, we're playing in different galaxies. So, unless Sally bribed Daniel Douglas with a new boy toy, I want to know who is calling the shots now." She shouted behind her to Harrison Wright, who was following her around the Atlanta Headquarters (the main headquarters) of Edison Davis's campaign for the Senate to represent the great state of Georgia, her heels clacking on the tile floor angrily.

Harrison chuckled at the anger in steps and furious sway of her hips as she moved to the break room where the cookies were hidden, "You got it, Liv." He saluted before turning on his heel.

"Olivia?" Edison Davis popped his head into the break room, where Olivia had stopped to raid the cookie stash. "Everything okay?"

Plastering a smile on her face, she turned to face him, "Everything is going to be fine, Edison." She promised.

He crossed his arms and nodded, "Oh, I know you'll handle it. I take it you just saw the footage of Sally and Daniel Douglas at the school fair."

She slammed the top down on the cookie jar with a little more force than she intended and she was glad it didn't crack in the process, "They must've brought on someone new. Everyone knows Daniel Douglas is in the closet. He and Sally have no chemistry and now," she snapped, "just like that they have fire?" She snorted, "I'll handle it. Believe you me." She pushed past him, his chuckle at her determination following her down the hallway.

SCANDAL

"Fitzgerald," Sally shook her head, staring down at the poll numbers in front of her, "you really are something else."

Fitzgerald Grant, III just grinned at her, "Sally, you and Daniel Douglas did this, not me."

She just rolled her eyes, "You made those poll numbers dance for us. You sure you don't want to run for office yourself?" She teased.

"Not really," he paused, "fixing your problems and getting you into the Senate is good enough for me."

Patting his arm, Sally smiled, "Well, we're grateful to have you with us." She left as Billy Chambers, her chief of staff appeared.

"What's up?" Fitz asked.

The young man looked harassed, "This came for you. Amanda just handed it off to me."

Fitz took the plain envelope with his name hand-written on it. He let out a hum of confusion as he slid the small piece of white paper out, _St. Regis Bar, 7:30pm Tonight - OP_

"What does it say?" Billy asked.

Fitz handed him the piece of paper, "I would imagine 'OP' is the great Olivia Pope." He grinned, "Seems she knows I'm working on Langston's campaign now."

Billy grunted, "Damn. We were hoping to keep you a secret for a bit." He admitted.

"Well, I'm fairly certain the cat's out of the bag." Fitz chuckled. "No matter, I can handle her."

"She's _Olivia Pope_. I mean, you're good Fitz, but no one is as good as she is." Billy dodged the door and followed him down the hall towards the kitchen in their own Atlanta offices.

"I am." Fitz boasted, "You know I'm"

"The second best. Fitz," Billy shook his head, "she's always got cards to play. She says so herself. Every candidate she's backed has gotten elected. We're crazy to go up against her in the first place." He continued. "Davis scored big time when he got her for his campaign. Word on the street is that they're doing the nasty, but I don't know if that's true. Or if it is, it probably doesn't mean much of anything to her. She stays out of politics on a personal level. She's not even registered with one party or the other. She's apolitical. An Independent, a wild card, and utterly unstoppable."

Fitz pulled the coffee pot off the burner and poured a cup, "Thank you for the vote of confidence, Billy. It's really appreciated that you believe in what we're doing here." He scoffed.

Billy rolled his eyes, "Don't be an overly sensitive middle school girl, Fitz." He poured his own cup of coffee, "I'm just saying that she's insanely good at her job. It's like she programmed to be a political fixer as a child."

"That's crazy. Her father is the curator of the Smithsonian and her mother was a stockbroker." Fitz shook his head, "Neither of them are or were in the political scene."

Billy's brows knit together, "How do you _know_ that?"

Fitz chuckled, "You don't honestly think I wouldn't look into my opponent, Billy, do you?" He shook his head, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer and all that. If I'm going to take her down, I need to know everything about her, that way I can find her weakness and use it against her." He tapped his coffee mug against Billy's, "I'll let you know how tonight goes." He winked at him before leaving the kitchen.

SCANDAL

Olivia perched herself on the edge of the hightop chair in the bar of the St. Regis Hotel downtown, sipping quietly on her house cab while she scrolled through a few emails on her phone, waiting on _the_ Fitzgerald Grant, III to show up. She knew all about the youngest Grant man. He was headed for greatness. A military hero who was shot down and captured. A POW for a few months in the Middle East. Slated to be Governor of California and, potentially, President of the United States, before he stepped out of bounds and up and moved to _Iowa_ of all places, where he managed to get an unelectable candidate into the House of Representatives. He was a rising star in the political fixer world. All pretty blue eyes, honey sweet words and Grant _ruthlessness_. She admired him for his work, and privately admired him for his many other assets.

"And you must be the great Olivia Pope." A tumbler of scotch on the rocks hit the wooden table with a gentle thud and her eyes shot up at the scraping of the chair on the tile floor before she found herself drowning in a steely blue gaze. He sat down and held out his hand, "I'm Fitzgerald Grant."

Swallowing hard before she schooled her features, Olivia gripped his hand firmly, "Olivia Pope." She sat back and let her eyes peruse him as he took a sip of drink, tossing his phone and car keys on the table top. "So, you're the man who's attempting to ruin my candidate's campaign." She finally stated after a full 60 seconds of silence.

A laugh rumbled from deep in his chest at her words, "That I am." He watched as she coolly picked up her glass of wine, taking a delicate sip of it. He had a feeling that was about the only delicate thing she did. She was bold and audacious and he found himself completely smitten with her in a matter of moments. "To be fair, I'm just trying to make sure my candidate wins the election. After all, she's the better candidate."

Olivia snorted and he was charmed, "You don't honestly believe that _puritan_ is better than Davis?"

Fitz leaned forward, "Miss Pope," he began, "why am I here?"

"If you have to ask me that, then I guess this entire meeting was pointless." She took another sip of her wine.

"You don't honestly think you'll get a decent read on me over one glass of scotch." She grimaced at his words, "Or wine." He motioned to her half-full glass of wine.

She leaned forward again, a grin tugging at her lips, "Actually, I think I already have a pretty good read on you." He arched a brow at her as she finished the rest of her wine and reached for her small clutch. Tossing some cash on the table, she stood. She didn't miss the way his gaze started at the top of her head, moving over her body, which was covered by a tight cream colored dress, her lean and clearly toned legs accentuated by her sky high black pumps, "Good night, Mr. Grant."

Reaching out, Fitz latched onto her wrist, his thumb brushing tantalizingly over her pulse. He grinned as it fluttered beneath his light touch. "Ms. Pope," she paused, holding his gaze, "I'm sure I will see you soon."

"At the town fair in Savannah on Saturday." Olivia murmured. She withdrew her wrist from his grasp and was out the door a moment later.

Suddenly, Fitz was very much looking forward to the town fair on Saturday.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 _ **AN: I am wowed by the responses to the first chapter of "State of Grace." I had no idea people would be interested in this story. I've just had fun working on it. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Things will start to heat up rather quickly for our favorite couple! Enjoy! ~ XOXO MAS**_

* * *

 _Busy streets and busy lives_

* * *

 _Savannah, Georgia - Town Fair_

Olivia crossed her arms as she surveyed the different media outlets setting up. When Harrison appeared next to her, she asked quickly, "Did you get ahold of Abby?"

This morning, Harrison was munching on a peach, careful not to get anything on his Davis for President polo shirt, which he had tucked into plaid shorts. He swore the peaches were better in Georgia. Personally, Olivia thought he liked to annoy her by focusing on his fruit preferences more than the campaign. The campaign that was now getting a run for its money thanks to one Fitzgerald Grant. According to poll numbers, Langston and Davis were _tied_. She'd never used that word once in regards to one of her candidates and now she wanted to break something. Or someone. She fought the urge to punch Harrison the way Huck taught her. "I did, and she's flying out to California as we speak. She called Quinn and Huck. Quinn's headed out there with her. It's her stomping ground after all. Huck's coming down here."

"Good. I want to know everything there is to know about this Fitzgerald Grant." She muttered.

Harrison chuckled and shook his head, "Huck promised to have a file for you when he arrived." He glanced at it watch, "Which should be in about four hours." He looked up and studied her carefully, gauging whether or not it was a good time to make his comments or if he should hold them in until a later date. A calmer date.

"Just say it. I know you want to." Olivia snapped.

"You're overreacting. No matter who this guy is, he's not you. He's not anywhere in your league, so just chill out and enjoy it. Let him think he can take you. Then you rip the carpet out of from under him. Destroy him." Harrison advised.

"The only problem with that," Olivia began slowly, "is that he's one upped me. I don't have a firm grip on this. I need to maintain control. There's no way in hell I'll let Langston beat Davis. No way in hell."

"Is this even about their politics?" Harrison asked slowly. He knew he was getting under Olivia's skin, but he couldn't help it. It was so fun to rattle her when she was usually calm and collected.

Olivia spun on him, "You think I give a fuck about their politics?" She muttered quietly. "I don't care what they believe. I just need to win, I never lose. I always win." She dug in her pocket as her phone started ringing. "What?" She snapped, stalking off.

SCANDAL

"Who are you looking for?" Billy asked him again, "And why won't you tell me about your meeting with the Olivia Pope. What did you guys talk about? Did she put you in a proverbial headlock? Actually, I heard somewhere that her tech genius was like ex-CIA or something and taught her to kick ass. I heard she's taken a few guys down. Did she take you down? Is that why you don't want to talk about it?" He rattled off.

"Dear God, Chambers," Fitz shook his head, "do you ever stop talking? Like ever?" He still wasn't used to Chambers and his very odd ways. He'd only been with the campaign for a few weeks now, having been brought on by Sally in a Hail Mary pass, and in some ways he was still gaining his footing. Chambers was definitely one of those ways. There was something off about the man. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he definitely wouldn't trust him with any state secrets.

Billy scowled at him, "I do not talk too much." He countered, "And why won't you tell me about Pope? Why is it some big secret or something?"

Fitz scrubbed his hand over his face. He needed to shave. "It's not a secret. There is nothing to tell. Honestly, we had a drink and she left. Nothing happened. She was just trying to get a read on me. She didn't actually learn anything." He assured Billy.

"I think you're full of shit, but I'll let it go for now." Billy relented, "Mostly because it's already hot as hell and I want to go find a bottle of water. You want one?"

Fitz's eyes narrowed in on a woman wearing white shorts and a blue Davis for Senate t-shirt, pacing and talking angrily on her phone. He grinned. _Olivia Pope._ "Nope, I'm good, Chambers. Have fun without me."

"Where are you going?" Billy called out his question. Fitz just waved him off and kept walking.

Fitz grinned and crossed his arms, listening as Olivia Pope ended her phone call with someone, "Wow, whoever that was, he should be more careful. I'll have to tread carefully so as to not wake the dragon that is your anger management problem." He taunted.

Olivia spun on her heel, finding Fitz Grant dressed in khaki shorts and a red Langston for Senate t-shirt looking all too delicious. He was dangerous, completely detrimental to her campaign. Her eyes narrowed and she scowled, "Just my luck. I'm not in the mood, Grant." She snapped.

He raised a damned eyebrow at that and she wanted to smack him, "Wow, what did I do to deserve the last name?" He asked, "I prefer Fitz, particularly when it is coming from a beautiful lady, such as yourself." He took a step forward, content to spend a few minutes riling her up before he had to focus on Sally and the press for the event, "In fact, I really like it when beautiful women moan it."

She snorted, and he was charmed by the sound, "You don't honestly think that's going to work, do you?"

"That depends, what do you think I'm trying to work?" He gazed innocently at her as he asked.

She rolled her brown eyes, "You want something. I'm just not sure what quite yet."

It was his turn to roll his steely blue eyes. He took another step forward and asked, "Why does it have to be like that, Olivia?" She held her ground as he took yet another step towards her and he was impressed. He'd heard she was tough and had balls of steel, "Why do you think I want something?"

She raised her chin defiantly, "Because men like you always want something. That's just the way it works."

His gaze hardened and he took a calculated step back from her, "'Men like me?'" He echoed, "What does that even mean?"

"It means," this time she stepped into his personal space, "that men as good-looking and intelligent as you are used to getting what you want. You're used to women falling at your feet and you're successful enough that you more than likely expect people to just jump out of the way." She paused before grinning up at him, "I'm not like that, Mr. Grant, I will not fall at your and I will fight for my campaign and my candidate. I won't just do what you say because you're a successful and attractive man."

He cocked his brow up again, "You think I'm attractive?"

"And of course that's what you honed in on." She snorted, "Men, you're all the same. You only think about one thing." She took a step back, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a campaign to attend to. I don't have time to play footsie with you."

He latched lightly onto her bicep, spinning her into his chest, "Just so you know, Olivia," his voice was low and husky, "this is not how real men play footsie, as you so charmingly put it." He grinned at her, "Now, if you're interested, I would be more than happy to show you."

She sucked in a breath. She held it before releasing slowly and retracting her arm from his grasp. "Enjoy the fair, Mr. Grant."

He watched as she stalked away. Chuckling, he dug into his pocket for his phone and dialed a number. "Hey, Jake, it's Fitz." He paused, "I need you to look into someone for me. Her name's Olivia Pope. She's running Davis's campaign. Then I need you to get on the first plane out here." He hung up a moment later, a grin curling at his lips as he shot off a text to a friend who had just wrapped up fixing a congressman's problem and was looking for a job.

With Leo and Jake on the way to town, there was no way he would lose to Olivia Pope and her team of Gladiators.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

 _ **AN: Wow! You guys are so amazing. I can't believe the response to this story has been this positive! Thank you so much! In other news, I'm going out of town tomorrow on an actual vacation... I'd forgotten what one of those was! And I'm not bringing my laptop, so this will be the last update until next week. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm far to excited to explore a new city with my boyfriend to actually be sorry. I'm also excited that this is twice in a matter of weeks that we will get to travel together rather than separately for work... So definitely not bringing my computer or my notebooks with me. I hope you enjoy today's update, though, and I will have something for everyone early next week. Have a great weekend everyone! Enjoy Scandal without me! ~ XOXO MAS**_

* * *

 _And all we know is touch and go_

* * *

Edison had done well enough at the town fair. He'd played games with some of the kids, talked to parents, wooed the veterans, but Sally had done better. The damn woman had gotten on the ground with a group of girls and braided hair. Watching it from afar had made Olivia want to screech and throw up. Everyone in Georgia was calling her mother of the year. It was disgusting. And it was brilliant politics. The damned Grant man had one upped her again. That had never happened before and as long as Olivia was still breathing, it would never happen again.

And based on the smug look on Fitz Grant's face, he was well aware of what he'd accomplished and how much it pissed Olivia off.

The veteran's event in DC that they were headed to was huge. As was the case for many of the midterm elections, it could make or break their campaign. The President would be there and so far he hadn't taken a huge stand behind either one of the candidates. Olivia was vying for his support for Davis. They were both Democrats, both ivy league educated (even if it they were rival ivies). She still wasn't entirely sure they would get it. Grant had a specific in with politicians that Olivia lacked. While everyone knew and respected her, it wasn't her father who was a former senator and governor and all around political legend out west. With Senator Fitzgerald 'Big Jerry' Grant's reputation, it didn't matter if Fitz backed a democrat or republican, he was bound to turn some heads.

Fitzgerald Grant had political capital, and Olivia was interested to see how he would spend it. So far there had been no mention to his father, no indication that he was supporting Sally in any way. So far Big Jerry had stayed in the wings. Olivia was just wondering when he'd step out to center stage and sink Edison's campaign. She would've killed for capital like that, but she wasn't raised in the shark infested waters of politics, and she knew it turned her parents' stomachs that she was involved in it, but they were proud no matter what.

"You need to stop thinking so hard. You're giving me a headache." Abby whined from her seat across from Olivia at the back of the bus.

Olivia turned her eyes from the dark road they were traveling down in Davis's campaign bus to the redhead, "I'm sorry?" She questioned even though she wasn't the least bit sorry for trying to figure out how to salvage Edison's campaign _before_ the veteran's event. Abby could leave her alone with her thoughts. It's not like she could read her mind anyways, thank the lord.

"Honestly, Harrison's right. Don't tell him I said that, though. He's already an insufferable and arrogant ass." Abby requested. "You'll take Grant down in the end. We all know it. Hell, I'm sure even Grant knows it. This is all just pomp and circumstance before he tanks Langston's campaign entirely. He knows he can't beat you, so he's trying to psych you out. And you're letting him. Snap out of it, girl."

"I'm more concerned about the leg up he'll have in Washington based on his father's reputation." Olivia admitted. She hated admitting weakness, but at this very moment, she felt almost crippled by it. Maybe Abby was right, all this thinking was making her head hurt as well.

Abby was already shaking her head in disagreement, "You don't have to worry about that." She pulled a file out of her purse and flicked on the light above them. Olivia squinted until her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness surrounding them, "Look, you haven't had much of a chance to go through what Quinn and I found in Santa Barbara. He hasn't been home in ages."

Olivia accepted the file and started to skim through it slowly. Abby was right, Fitz wasn't close to his father. That didn't mean people wouldn't fall over themselves to help a Grant. His father was a self-made man. He made his millions in the docking industry out in California and rose up politically as an underdog. His son was supposed to be his protege, he was supposed to make it into the White House, but he'd stepped out of bounds. Apparently that was the last they'd talked. According to Abby's _very_ thorough file, when Fitz returned from war, he took a job in Iowa (something Olivia already knew), leaving behind his father and his long time girlfriend (who he'd promptly made an ex-girlfriend), Melanie 'Mellie' Carmichael, and started from scratch. He hadn't even been back to California since them and that was more than three years ago now.

Still, people would know and respect the Grant name.

She shook her head, trying to clear it of the negativity. She usually refused to let the negativity cloud her thoughts. Her father, though just a curator at the Smithsonian, always told her that negative thoughts led to weakness, even if the person only possessed strength. And he promised her that she only possessed strength, so she should never let the negative sway her. She'd always believed him, this was not the time to let go of something that have never failed her before. People knew and respected her name. She'd worked her ass off to start her _own_ firm. She could have a job at any law firm she wanted, she could work as chief of staff for any politician in DC. Everyone wanted her. She was the best. Just because he was Grant didn't mean he could best her. No one bested her. Ever. It was her name on her office door. It was her blood, sweat and tears that had been poured into that business. And it was her reputation on the line. No one, particularly some pampered pretty boy from California, was going to take that away from her. Not now. Not ever.

She shut the file with a little snap. "You're right. We're going to wipe the floor with him."

Abby beamed, "That's the Olivia Pope I know and love." She took the folder and tucked it into her bag before rising, "Now, I'm going to get a couple hours rest. Give that brain a break and get some too." She suggested softly before she stood up and moved to an empty seat surrounded by darkness.

Olivia sighed and reached up, flipping the light above her off, letting the darkness envelop her. Leaning against the window, she let her eyes drift shut and her mind turn off.

SCANDAL

"Now," Olivia adjusted the collar on Edison's button down shirt, "you are better than Langston. And knowing that woman, she's going to majorly suck up to the President today."

"And I shouldn't." He finished.

"Exactly, because you're Edison Davis. You're born to be Senator of Georgia. She's not. She's some Bible thumping idiot whose husband is in the closet gay." Olivia grinned, "Just be your charming self. Don't go into politics, don't try to sway him, and we all know this man doesn't like to have his ego fed to him openly. You have to be subtle."

Edison rested his hands on her shoulders, "Olivia, subtly is far more my forte than yours." He reminded her with a grin.

She scowled at him, "I can be subtle." She grumbled.

He shook his head, "Fine, why don't you subtly go hate Fitzgerald Grant?" He suggested. "The boy could use a good knocking down right about now."

Olivia's scowled deepened as Edison turned and left her, his laughter echoing down the hallway of the hotel where they were waiting for the cars to pick them up to take them to the brunch.

SCANDAL

"Go away." Olivia ordered as Fitz approached her, two mimosas in hand

"Now that is no way to treat someone who brings you a cold beverage on a warm day." Fitz teased.

She scowled at him, "Didn't ask for said beverage."

"You should drink. It will smooth out the frown lines." He cajoled her.

"I don't have frown lines." She responded.

"Not right now, but usually when I'm within spitting distance you do." He dangled the glass in front of her, "Have a drink with me?"

"I've already had a drink with you." She reminded him.

He grinned, "Fine, then have one that I buy." He offered.

"They're free." She deadpanned. He just raised an eyebrow and she let out a sigh of resignation, "Fine."

"So you do like me then." He surmised as she took a sip.

She eyed the glass suspiciously, "You didn't poison this, did you?"

He rolled his eyes, "What would be the fun in that?" He asked, "Besides, then I wouldn't have anyone to play footsie with." He winked at her.

She covered her mouth with her hand to hide her grin and his answering smile was triumphant. "Fine, you win, I don't hate you."

"You shouldn't today, because Sally has already blown it." He muttered.

Olivia chuckled, "I knew she would."

"You couldn't possibly know that." He grunted.

Olivia's laughter rang around them, "Oh, Fitz, you still have so much to learn it seems." She patted his arm lightly, "Based on Sally's personality, I knew she would go in, guns blazing and sink her own ship." At his incredulous look, she continued, "This is one instance when Edison's lighter touch is needed."

Fitz's eyes narrowed down at her, "I think you mean your lighter touch. You trained him well."

"You're working wonders on Sally." She finally complimented after a few beats.

He grinned at her, "See, now that wasn't so hard to say something nice to me, was it?"

"Yes, a root canal is less painful." She muttered.

He draped an arm over her shoulders, "You so like me Olivia Pope." He teased her.

She jumped lightly at the contact of his arms over her bare shoulders. "You think so? I'm beginning to think you may have stalkerish tendencies and you may have this backwards."

The timbre of his voice dropped significantly as he whispered in her ear, "Oh I definitely like you. I've got a thing for fiery women." His hand moved down to squeeze her side lightly. Pulling away, he sent her a parting wink before he brought the champagne flute up to his lips and sauntered away.

She watched him go, her vision suddenly hazy. Letting out a groan, she downed her entire glass and stomped after him. She found him near the bar talking to two men she didn't recognize. Before she approached, she snapped a subtle picture and sent it to Huck with the text _Investigate_.

"Mr. Grant," she paused in front of them, "a word?" She requested.

He winked at the two men before giving her a nod and following her. She led him down a winding path and into a building set up with air conditioning in case any of the older veterans or members of Congress needed respite from the unusual heat. "Olivia?" Fitz asked as she latched onto his wrist and yanked him into what was a broom closet. She slammed the door shut and took a deep breath, flicking the lock in place, "Well, this is cozy." He quipped.

She spun on heel and pressed her hands to his chest, "Just shut up." She demanded.

He looked down at her slightly confused, "Olivia,"

She was shaking her head, her hands moving to grip the collar of his button down, "I said shut up." Before she could over think, she yanked his head down, crushing his mouth down to hers.

He was startled, but only for a moment, catching up to the demanding force behind her kiss. He pressed her back against the door with a small thud, pinning her there. Her hands moved up to clutch at the back of his neck, nipping at his bottom lip aggressively. He let out a groan as her tongue slid into his mouth to tangle with his own.

Just as suddenly, she pulled back, her eyes wide with shock. He stumbled slightly before gaining his footing. "Olivia?" He asked.

She put her hand over her mouth, "Wait five minutes before you come out." She ordered. He nodded his assent and she opened the door slowly.

"Well, fuck." He muttered, his fingers raising to ghost over his lips.

Five minutes later he emerged from the closet and went in search of Olivia.

"She just flew out of here like a bat out of hell. She told some hot redhead chick something and was gone." Leo told him.

Fitz's face fell slightly as he scoped out the lawn of the White House. Shaking his head, he grinned. It didn't matter. She couldn't hide from him for long. He'd see her at the debate on Monday night.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

 _ **AN: Okay, you guys may just be the best ever. Seriously, thank you so much for your support of this story, particularly so early on. I just can't believe you guys like it! Anyhow, thank you so much and here's the next chapter! ~ XOXO MAS**_

* * *

 _We're all alone with our changing minds_

* * *

Olivia watched from a distance as Edison flipped through his debate prep cards she'd put together the week before. She wasn't worried about this. Edison would have no trouble taking Sally during the debate. Edison was a natural and he had a firm grasp on his stance on every issue. He also wasn't one to get overly emotional when speaking. At times that gave Sally an edge, but in a debate there was no question Edison was the one who would shine. Plus her debate prep was foolproof. Even the worst of her candidates could take a debate once she was done with them.

No, Olivia wasn't worried about Edison. She wasn't even worried about Sally. She was worried about Fitzgerald Grant.

She knew he was here, she'd seen fleeting glances of him before spinning down the first hallway she'd cross to hide. She didn't want to face him after she dragged him into a broom closet and mauled him. Yes, he was hot. Yes, she'd gone a while without sex. No, she was not going to do the hot fixer from the other campaign.

"You know," a voice echoed in her ear softly and she jumped, "you can run down every corridor you want, but you won't be able to avoid me for forever. We will eventually be forced to interact with each other at events. You might as well get it over with now."

She spun and found herself plummeting into the blue gaze of the one person she didn't want to see. Clearing her throat, she dropped her mask in place, "Mr. Grant." She nodded.

He chuckled, "Really? Mr. Grant? After the broom closet?" He asked. Shaking his head, he sighed, "Fine, I'll play along, Miss Pope. How are you and your candidate doing today?"

Olivia wanted to snort at his lame attempt to speak to her, "Edison and I are both fine." She snapped quickly, "I hope Sally is prepared."

Fitz crossed his arms, "You don't honestly think that Edison will take Sally in this debate. Do you?" He shook his head, "I heard you were the best in the business. I didn't realize that meant being naive."

Her brown eyes narrowed to slits, "Naive? And just who do you think you are to come in and judge me? You, Mr. Grant, are new to this game." She reminded him, "I have been doing this since before you trekked off to Iowa. Growing up you may have picked up a thing or two, but you are still nowhere near as good as I am."

He bit back a grin. She was nice and riled up, something he'd wanted to see again. "It seems you've been looking into me, Miss Pope." He teased.

"I like to know what I'm up against." She snapped, turning on her heel, "Tell Sally good luck tonight. She's going to need it." Olivia taunted.

Leo came up behind Fitz and let out a whistle that mimicked a plane going down once Olivia was out of sight, "She's never going to be interested, man." He advised, "Get out before you get pulled under."

Fitz turned slightly to glance at his friend, "Oh, come on now, Leo. Have a little faith."

Leo rolled his eyes, "You may be good-looking or whatever, but I don't think you'll be able to distract Olivia freaking Pope. She's the best of the best."

"Should I be worried that people on my campaign keep reminding me that she's better than me?" Fitz wondered idly.

Leo snorted, "Oh please don't tell me that bruised your already over-inflated ego."

Fitz chuckled and slapped Leo's back, "I believe you're mistaking my ego with yours." He teased, "Let's go find Jake, he was looking into Pope's team for me."

SCANDAL

Olivia was too jumpy to sit in the audience and watch the debate without being a complete distraction for Edison. Her conversation with Grant had unsettled her. She realized, as she walked away, that he was purposefully riling her up. And she fell right into his trap. _Damn that man._

"Didn't want to watch the debate either?"

Olivia jumped again at the voice behind her. Spinning, she scowled, "Is it your goal in life to startle me and aggravate me?" She snapped.

Fitz stuck his hands in his pockets and ambled forward into her personal space, "Honestly, Olivia, I just want to talk."

His tone changed from teasing to honest in a second and Olivia instantly felt bad. Looking around, she wrapped her tiny hand around his wrist and pulled him into one of the back rooms, flicking the lock into place, "Sorry," she released his arm, "we just couldn't do it out there."

He chuckled, "Or maybe you just like locking me in small rooms with you?"

She rolled her eyes, "And here I just thought you wanted to talk."

He nodded, "I do, I just, was that just a one off or"

Raking a hand through her hair, Olivia tangled her curls into a mess. Spinning to put her back to him, she fixed her hair slowly, almost methodically, as she thought about the best way to address his question. "I don't know." She finally answered. "And damn if that doesn't aggravate me."

He let out a little snort, "I never imagined The Great Olivia Pope wouldn't have a response to something."

She shoved his chest lightly, "Not nice."

He shrugged, "Look, I'm not standing over here on the verge of proposing marriage or anything." He pointed out, "I'm just saying that you kissed me and then ran off. So I'm wondering if you're going to kiss me again. Like should I be prepared and slip some breath mints in my pocket?"

Olivia rolled her eyes, "It will definitely _not_ be happening again."

Stepping into her personal space, Fitz lowered his mouth to her ear, "That's too bad, because I happen to think we were quite good at the kissing thing."

His warm breath ghosted over her skin and she leaned forward slightly, her back bowing into him. Without warning, she yanked his mouth down to hers. He read her body's reaction to his words and his tone before she realized what she was going to do. This time he was prepared for the onslaught of her mouth on his. With one arm wrapped around her waist, he pulled her flush against him. His other hand reached up to tangle in her hair, angling her head backwards.

With sure movements, Fitz walked her towards the small sofa in the room. When she realized what he was doing. She spun them at the last minute, pushing him down onto the cushions before hiking up her dress so she could straddle his lap. He rose up slightly to meet her, his hands wandering down her curves, coming to squeeze her ass. She let out a moan and he repeated the action. Her response was to tug on his silky curls, pulling a moan from his own throat.

In far too short of time, the moderator announced the debate was over and the applause from the auditorium echoed through the television playing softly in the background. Both Fitz and Olivia pulled back, "Well, shit." Fitz muttered. "We missed the whole thing."

Olivia closed her eyes, "Maybe we both suck at our jobs." She grumbled.

He chuckled and glanced up at her. Her eyes were dark and hazy with lust, her lips were kiss-swollen and he could make out a slight flush and sheen of sweat across her skin. She was beautiful. "Or maybe we were just a little distracted by something a bit more fun than a political debate." His hand ghosted down the column of her neck, "Have a drink with me." He requested.

"What?" She stuttered out.

"A drink. Friday night. 8pm. Barcelona Wine Bar." She looked down at him skeptically, "One glass of wine." He bargained. "Just one glass and if you're not enjoying yourself you can leave and I promise to never cross this line with you again."

She chewed on her lip for a moment and studied him, "One glass." She repeated, holding up a finger.

He wrapped his hand around the finger, his nail lightly scratching at the pad, "One glass." He repeated.

She seemed to consider this for what felt like an eternity. Making up her mind, she rocked forward and pressed a hard kiss to his lips. "8pm, Friday night, Barcelona Wine Bar." She confirmed before standing up. He watched as she straightened out her dress and her hair quickly. "Don't be late." She ordered as she opened the room door, looked into the hallway and darted out.

He grinned at her fleeting figure. Friday night couldn't come soon enough.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 _We fall in love till it hurts or bleeds or fades in time_

* * *

Olivia threw the shirt over her head and onto her bedroom floor, letting out a small shriek of frustration. She didn't understand why she couldn't pick a damn outfit. It was just a drink. _Just one drink_. It shouldn't be this difficult.

"Stop panicking." Abby crossed her legs and picked up a black top, tossing it to Olivia, "He asked you out, remember?"

"Maybe you should wear a dress." Quinn suggested, settling down next to Abby, a glass of rum clutched in her hand. "Or maybe that'll give him the wrong idea."

"Oh, I think you should give him the wrong idea." Abby picked up her glass of rum, "Have fun, get laid. You work too hard and don't have enough fun."

Olivia rolled her eyes, "There will be no wrong ideas." She'd decided that the night before as she worried over the date. "It's a bad idea." She sighed and tugged on a dress that Quinn handed to her, "This whole thing is a bad idea."

"It's just a drink. There are no bad ideas where wine is involved." Abby paused, "But I think you should have some of this to calm those frayed nerves." She handed Olivia her rum, "Finish that. I'll find you something to wear. That dress is too workish."

"Well, she already threw all of the cocktail dresses on the floor." Quinn grumbled, picking up the bottle of rum and topping the glass off that Abby was giving to Olivia.

"If I drink that much I'll be"

"At least willing to have a conversation that isn't about work." Abby cut in, "Now drink it, put on those tight skinny jeans, wear the white slinky silky top that Quinn gave you for your birthday last year and just go have a drink with him." Abby suggested. "Quinn and I will be here if when you get back. We have ear plugs if you decide to bring him home."

Olivia rolled her eyes downed half of the glass of rum, wincing it burned her throat, "There will be no use for those ear plugs."

Quinn scoffed, "Please, if he wanted to have a drink with me, I'd do him."

"Aren't you screwing Huck?" Abby asked.

Quinn winked, "Wouldn't you two like to know?"

Downing the rest of her rum, Olivia nodded, "We would. And that's what we'll do tomorrow." She glanced at the clock on her nightstand, "Shit, I'm going to be late." Letting out another groan, she moved back to her closet and yanked at the clothes. With a resigned sigh, she picked up a slinky white top and threw it on, tugging on the skinny jeans Abby handed her. Reaching up, she grabbed black pumps, slid them onto her feet and stomped towards the front door, grabbing her clutch on the way. One drink. That was it.

"I won't be out too late." She called out over her shoulder.

"Go get some fine Grant ass!" Abby's voice echoed down the hall.

SCANDAL

Fitz checked his watch again. She was late. He took a long sip of his scotch. He had a feeling that she could stand him up. A voice in his ear echoed, "Is this seat taken?"

Fitz looked up at the high pitched voice, it didn't match Olivia's husky voice. Instead, he found a blonde with bright red lips and a seductive smile on her face leaning over him. "Excuse me?" He asked stupidly.

"This seat," her grin widened, "is it taken?"

"Yes, actually, it is." Fitz looked over the blonde's shoulder to find Olivia wearing dark jeans and a sexy white top. "You can move now." She told the woman.

The blonde looked between Olivia and Fitz, her brow arched, "I believe that would be up to him." She motioned to Fitz.

Fitz chuckled, "I believe you heard Olivia, the seat is taken." He told the blonde.

With a loud scoff, the woman turned and strutted away. Olivia took the moment to pull out the bar stool and flag down the bartender. "House cab." She ordered sharply before turning back to Fitz. "So, you were making friends I see. Blonde ones."

Fitz chuckled and nodded to another glass of scotch. "Jealous?" He countered.

Olivia scowled and took a sip of her wine, "Not in the least." She lied.

He chuckled, "I'll let it slide just this once." He turned to fully face her once he had his scotch, "So, Olivia, tell me something about yourself." He requested.

Olivia rolled her eyes, "Honestly? Something that you haven't dug up?" She asked, "Looking for weakness in the competition?" She accused.

It was Fitz's turn to roll his eyes, "Look, Olivia," he pushed her wine glass away and took her hands in his, "I promise you that I have no ulterior motive here. I think you're interesting. I think you're brilliant. I think you're gorgeous. I just want to have a drink with you. So humor me, tell me something about yourself. Where did you grow up?"

Olivia sighed, retracting her hand slowly so she could pick up her wine glass. "DC. Georgetown actually."

Fitz nodded, "I'm from Santa Barbara, born and raised there."

Olivia nodded, "What made you fall into fixing?" She asked.

SCANDAL

An hour later, Olivia was laughing at a story about Fitz on his first campaign in Iowa falling into a vat of milk on a dairy farm. Her hand fell on his thigh, "Oh, Fitz," she shook her head, "that's so sad."

"It was actually my first time on an actual farm. We call what we have a farm, but it's just a bunch of horses." He admitted, finishing off his fourth tumbler of scotch.

She rolled her eyes, "Poor little California boy." She taunted, her hand rising slowly as his came to rest on her elbow, "If it makes you feel any better, I was at a fundraiser at a donor's house up in New York City for a campaign, the winter was just hitting and they hadn't drained their pool yet and a bunch of kids ran by and I went tumbling into it."

Fitz squeezed her elbow, "Who knew campaign fixing was such a perilous game?" He chuckled.

Olivia's eyes shot up to meet his blue ones, "Who knew." She murmured softly.

SCANDAL

Abby poured the final glass of rum, splitting it between her glass and Quinn's, "Think she'll screw him?"

Quinn shook her head, "No way, she was so in her own head about it that it's going to be a bust. She's going to make all sorts of work accusations and he's going to call it a night."

Abby swirled the dark liquid in her glass, "I don't know, she's wound so tight. A few glasses of a good wine and she may let her hair down and get a little wild."

Quinn seemed to consider Abby's point of view for a moment, "Hm, maybe you and I should go find a hotel room." She quipped.

SCANDAL

Olivia slipped into the cab. Leaning into the doorway, Fitz murmured, "Thank you for a very entertaining night, Liv." He murmured.

Making a snap decision, Olivia looked up with an arched brow, "Who said it was over?" She slid over and patted the spot next to her.

With a grin, Fitz settled in. He rattled off his address quickly.

SCANDAL

 _The Next Morning_

Olivia shut the door to her apartment with a loud thud, "Abby! Quinn!" She called out. She frowned when she got no response, "Girls?" She tossed her clutch on the dining room table.

"Not so loud." Abby groaned, padding out of one of the bedrooms.

Olivia's eyes then landed on the living room. There was an empty bowl (it probably had popcorn in it at one point), two empty rum bottles and two empty tumblers, both with lipstick marks. "Good night?" She quipped.

"You're too loud." Quinn's voice was raspy as she came out of the third bedroom, "Too much noise."

"I'll make some bacon." Olivia offered with a chuckle.

Abby frowned as she sat down on the table, putting her head on her hands, "You're just getting home? You're walk of shaming it." She muttered.

"I had a better night than the two of you." She chuckled, pulling out a package of bacon and some butter.

"Was it good?" Quinn asked, settling down next to Abby, cringing as it scrapped against the tile floor.

Olivia's eyes sparkled and she pulled a hair tie off of her wrist, whipping her hair up into a ponytail before washing her hands. "Very, _very_ good."

"Told you that she would let her hair down." Abby sighed, "So what happens now?"

"Now," Olivia murmured, "Fitz and I plan on keeping everything quiet." She told them, "So nothing to Harrison, nothing to Huck, nothing to anyone. We're still working for opposing campaigns, so nothing is happening officially." She grinned as she slipped some water in a kettle to make some tea for herself before setting up the coffee pot for Quinn and Abby. "Unofficially, we're going on a date on Wednesday."

Abby looked up, "Wednesday? Isn't that the day of a fair in northern Georgia that both Langston and Edison will be at?"

Olivia chuckled, "Well, both campaigns are planning on staying overnight, so Fitz and I are going to sneak out and try to find some restaurant for an actual dinner."

Abby held out her hand, "You owe me."

Quinn grumbled under her breath, standing and returning shortly with her wallet, pressing a twenty in Abby's hand. "I hate you both." Olivia muttered, flipping the bacon over.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

 _ **AN: Hopefully this will make up for the last chapter. I wasn't intentionally trying to hurt anyone! I had my reasons! I think they're good reasons! ~ XOXO MAS**_

* * *

 _And I never saw you coming, and I'll never be the same_

* * *

 _Blue Ridge, Georgia_

Abby sighed as the bus rolled into Blue Ridge. "I miss DC." She muttered. "All this countryside isn't good for me."

Olivia snorted, "It's good for all of us, Abs. It's good to clear our minds and get away from the pollution."

"Being away from all the fumes is probably a good thing." Quinn assented.

"I actually meant the politicians." Olivia quipped. Chuckles surrounded her and Stephen tipped his coffee cup in salute to that. "Okay, we'll be at the hotel in about fifteen minutes. Tonight we have a dinner at the local headquarters. Then tomorrow morning we have to suck it up for a prayer meeting and breakfast. Then the town fair. We're staying the night, leaving tomorrow morning for Athens. We'll be on the bus by 5:30am sharp."

Harrison let out a content sigh, "We're really going to get another night spent in a hotel room rather than on a bus? That's just bliss." He murmured.

Olivia chuckled, "Don't get used to. The night after we'll be sleeping on the bus on our way back down to Atlanta." She warned.

SCANDAL

Olivia was just pushing the door to her hotel room open when she heard a familiar chuckle behind her ear, "I heard we were staying in the same hotel, but I had no idea we were neighbors."

She shivered at the husky, low timber, and turned slightly, "Good afternoon, Mr. Grant." She leaned against the wall, one hand still on the door handle. "How was your ride up to Blue Ridge?"

He hovered over her, "Quite uneventful. Yours?"

"Hm, same, although I have this awful crick in my neck from the bus ride." She arched her neck slightly with a sigh.

"Perhaps you should see someone about that." He suggested.

She hummed, "Well, I have about an hour before I have to be in Edison's room for a quick update meeting. Know anyone who could help on such short notice?"

More quickly than she could've anticipated, Fitz had her room key out of her hand, and was dragging her and her suitcase through the door. His hands in her hair as he pushed her back up against it, flicking the lock into place in the process. She sighed, reaching up to wrap her own hands around his neck, slipping her fingers through the silky strands to tug on them, eliciting a groan that was pure man from him.

His hands slid down her body, moving under her ass to hoist her up in the air. He deposited her on the dresser, a lamp falling over and cracking in the process.

He pulled back suddenly and she leaned forward trying to chase his lips. Instead, he pushed her back against the mirror, "Take off your clothes." He murmured. She shivered at his tone, but her hands immediately moved to the buttons on her silk blouse, tugging it from her slacks and leaning up to gracefully shrug out of it. Fitz's eyes darkened as they followed her movements. They were slow and sure and seductive. He growled and surged forward, capturing her lips in a bruising kiss, yanking her plump bottom one between his teeth. She latched onto him, arching her legs up around his hips.

Picking her up again, Fitz dropped her on the bed. He slithered down her body, peppering kisses down her neck, along her collarbone, her stomach, reaching for the button on her brown slacks, he slid them and her cream colored panties down her legs, knocking her pumps off in the process.

Propping herself up on her elbows, Olivia reached around her back, popping open the clasp to her matching bra and tossing it on the floor with the rest of her clothes. She spread herself out wantonly across the bed. "You are beautiful." He murmured.

She drew him in with her legs reaching up to unbutton his shirt, "And you should be more naked." She ordered, her fingers quickly flicking through the buttons on his blue shirt, letting him push it off his shoulders so she could rake her nails down his abdomen. He was the perfect amount of chest hair, silky skin and firm muscles. He was purely man. "We only have an hour." She reminded him, "Not even, actually."

He growled and pulled out of her grasp. "I plan to make you scream." He murmured.

An hour later, Olivia was running five minutes late to her meeting in Edison's room, "There you are." Edison muttered when she pushed the door open.

"Sorry, got caught up on the phone." She lied, settling into a chair, "So, let's get started. Here's our agenda." She pulled a stack of papers out of her folder and passed them around."

SCANDAL

When they were standing outside waiting for the bus to pull up thirty-five minutes later to head to the local headquarters, Abby murmured, "So, how was your _phone call_?" She asked with an arched brow.

"It must've been some _phone call_ to make you late." Quinn teased.

Olivia kept a straight face, "What did I say about discretion? Or were the two of you too hungover to pay attention to that little detail?"

Abby bit back a squeal, "Oh you were so getting it on with Mr. Hot Fixer."

"Mr. Hot Fixer?" Olivia asked. "Really?"

Quinn scoffed, "I'm with Liv on that, you need a better nickname."

"What? He's hot. He's a fixer. Duh." Abby rolled her eyes impatiently at them.

"You're insufferable." She murmured as Harrison and Huck joined them, silencing the conversation.

"What?" Harrison asked, a pear in hand, "Did we interrupt some girl talk?"

Olivia rolled her eyes, "The bus is here, let's go." She ordered, ignoring his question altogether.

Harrison chuckled and smacked Huck in the shoulder, "We definitely interrupted something good."

Huck's eyes were narrowed in on him, "Why do you care? You're not a girl." He pointed out, following Olivia onto the bus.

"So lame." Harrison sighed, "So sad."

"Or maybe you're the one who's lame and sad." Abby quipped, darting away before Harrison could respond.

SCANDAL

 _Blue Ridge Town Fair_

"Good morning, Miss Pope." Fitz came up behind her again, "And how are you this fine day?"

Olivia snorted, "Technically, it's 12:15, so it's good afternoon." She pointed out.

He chuckled, "Alright then, good afternoon, Miss Pope. How are you this fine day?"

She looked up at him, "Quite good actually. A wonderful doctor of sorts really worked out some of my _kinks_ last night."

He grunted, "Sounds like someone you should see on a regular basis." Fitz advised.

Olivia hummed in agreement, "I was hoping to make an appointment tonight. Maybe find a place to meet him ahead of time for a drink."

"I think he may be able to squeeze you into his busy schedule." Fitz assented, "Ah, and here is Billy Chambers, Sally Langston's chief of staff. What can we do for you this beautiful afternoon, Billy?" Fitz asked.

Olivia could hear the slight amount of mocking in Fitz's tone and she wondered at it. Perhaps, she thought, she'd ask him about that later tonight after they were sated and happy. Or maybe not, she didn't want him to think she was in this for trade secrets. She played all of her campaigns above board and, while she always had opposition research in her arsenal, she never used it.

Billy chuckled, "We haven't formally met. Billy Chambers. I'm a big fan, Miss Pope, even as we find ourselves on opposite sides." He took her hand, bowed slightly and brushed a kiss to the back of it.

Olivia rolled her eyes, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Chambers."

"I prefer when beautiful women call me Billy." He corrected lightly. She hummed an acknowledgement, but didn't respond to that. Perhaps there was nothing more to Fitz's opinion of Billy other than distaste because the man was creepy.

Two hours later, Olivia and Fitz were seated at a table with Leo, Jake, Billy, Harrison, Abby, Quinn and Huck. Fitz held up his bottle of water, "Here's to the rival campaign staffs actually being able to get along for a spell."

"Or them all just wanting to sit in the shade for a while." Harrison grumbled. "The fruit may be better, but is it always so damn hot in the South?"

Billy chuckled, "You'll get used to it." He offered up.

"Not likely." Leo and Harrison muttered together.

"Excuse me," a young blonde woman came up, "but Senator Langston would like to speak to you guys." She motioned to Fitz, Billy, Leo and Jake.

Fitz grinned and smacked his hand on the table, "Well, good luck, see you all around." He waved and walked off.

"They make some very hot Republicans." Abby murmured when they were wrong. "Well, not Billy, but the rest of them."

"Yes they do." Quinn agreed.

"Not interested." Harrison stood up, "I'm going to hunt down more water. Or some scotch. I'm not sure which right now."

Olivia chuckled and watched Harrison wander off, the thought of booze bringing Abby with him. She had to admit, though, as she watched Fitz interact with Sally, he was one hot Republican.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 _You come around and the armor falls_

* * *

Olivia glanced over her shoulder and back into the hotel lobby, making sure no one was there to see her standing on the curb. She turned as a car pulled up in front of her. With one last glance over her shoulder and a grin on her face, she quickly jumped in the passenger seat. "Hi." She looked to her left as the deep rumble wrapped around her, Fitz was grinning softly at her from the shadows.

"Hi." She murmured, her eyes sparkling, "Nice wheels. Where are we going?" He hadn't told her where they were going or what they were doing and it had been eating away at her. She didn't like not knowing things.

He chuckled, "You like surprises, Liv?" He asked teasingly. He'd picked up early on that she had to know everything so she could be in control. He was going to enjoy ripping that away from her every now and again. Personally, of course.

She scowled, "Not even a little bit. So, where are we going?" She repeated her early question impatiently.

He grinned at her, shooting her a sideways look, "Now, now I'm definitely _not_ going to tell you. Now I'm going to make you wait. In fact, I may take the long way, I may make you wait longer than necessary." He could only imagine how pushing her buttons may end up for him. He was interested to explore that in private at a later time.

"That's mean. We are under time constraints." She reminded him sharply.

His brows raised, "Oh, we are? I didn't realize that Daddy Davis gave you kids a curfew."

"And Pastor Langston doesn't have you children up early for church?" She shot back.

"That woman couldn't drag me into a church, oh wait, she has." He grunted, "Well, fuck."

Olivia laughed, leaning over the center console as he stopped at a red light. Tipping his head, she pressed her lips to his, sighing into the contact, her hand gripping the collar of his polo shirt, "Let's make a deal." She bargained, keeping her mouth a hairsbreadth away from his.

"Oh, what kind of deal?" He asked, grinning at her.

"No politics, unless it's stories of past campaigns. No Edison. No Sally. No campaign. Just funny stories and getting to know each other and then lots of sex. All over one of our hotel rooms." She grinned. "Oh, maybe we could do it in the car, too."

"Deal." He kissed her hard, one last time before the light turned green. "Still not telling you where we're going though."

She let out a grunt and settled back into her seat. "Fine." She grumbled."

He did take the long way around, she suspected. Nowhere in a town this small should take forty-five minutes to get to. Still, when they pulled up to the rustic little bar, she was skeptical. "This is where you're taking me?" She asked.

He helped her climb down, "Yup." He nodded, "Welcome to the Rustic Ranch." He pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Come on, Livie, we're not in Atlanta or New York." He reminded her, reaching down to lace their fingers together, "Now let's go, I hear beer calling our names."

She scrunched up her nose, "Beer?" She asked.

He rolled his eyes, "Yup, you're going to drink beer like a normal person. You're not going to drink wine like the super fancy person you are." He teased, holding the door open for her.

The place was fairly crowded, but no one seemed to notice them as they slipped into a booth in the back. Fitz left her with a parting kiss and a promise to find something semi-acceptable for her to drink. She highly doubted that, but she slipped out of her sweater and settled in to wait to see what he came up with. A minute later he was sliding a tall neck bottle of beer in front of her. She stared down at it, "What is it?" She asked.

He chuckled, "It's beer, Olivia." He rolled his eyes, "Weren't you ever a college kid?"

"I graduated top of my classes at Harvard and Georgetown." She snipped.

"Then you must've had beer at some point in time. Drink it." He ordered, taking a long pull from his.

She did, wincing, "This is acceptable?"

"It's the most expensive beer they have. And I ordered us fries and chicken fingers." He winked, "I'm super classy like that."

Olivia stared at him for thirty seconds before she let out a long peal of laughter that caused a few nearby patrons to turn to stare at her. With a fond shake of her head, she raised her beer bottle in toast and took a sip, "Okay, so, I want to know more. Tell me something I don't know about you?"

Fitz studied her as he thought, watching her take another swig of the beer, "Okay, so I have three sisters, when I was nine, oh, they're all older by the way, I let them dress me up and parade me around the neighborhood in a fashion show." He admitted.

Olivia nearly fell off the booth bench, "Please tell me you have a picture _somewhere_?"

He nodded as the bartender dropped two baskets in front of them before leaving, "I think I have a photo album with a few pictures my mom snapped in a box back in Atlanta." He admitted.

Her eyes sparkled, "Can I see it?" She asked.

He chuckled, "Sure, but you have to show me some of your embarrassing family photos."

Olivia swallowed hard, "I don't have any, actually. After my mom died, my dad shipped me off. No real pictures of me after that." She shrugged, "I have some funny boarding school stories, though." She offered before delving into a story about sneaking into the boy's dormitories at the neighboring school.

Four hours later, Olivia found herself pinned to the passenger side of their car, her eyes rolling to the back of her head as Fitz's lips skimmed down her throat, his teeth scraping over her pulse. "Fitz," she murmured, "we have to, oh my god." She mumbled.

He bent down even more, his lips moving down over the swells of her breasts, nibbling at the skin lightly, "We have to what?" He murmured, one hand sliding up under her shirt.

"Public place." She moaned out.

His fingers skimmed across one of the cups of her bra, "You want me to fuck you in a public place?" He teased, his head coming up so he could look down at her, "You really are a wild, dirty thing." He murmured in her ear, his teeth grazing the lobe.

Reaching around, she squeezed his ass, grinning when it earned her a groan, "We need to get out of a public place and find somewhere more private." She clarified, "Where we can be _naked_."

He let out a huff and pulled her away from the car door, flinging it open and deftly lifting her up into the seat. He was rounding the car the next moment. Olivia watched his tense profile as he pulled them back onto the road. Her mind moved a million miles a minute, thinking of all of the possibilities, "Take a backroad." She ordered sharply, just before he'd have to turn on the highway.

His eyes flashed over to hers, "What?"

"Backroads." She ordered again. With a confused nod, he complied, instead keeping straight on the road he was on. Olivia was silent for the next five minutes before snaking her hand over to his lap, giving his thigh a firm squeeze.

" _Olivia_." He warned. She hummed but didn't respond, instead she kept her hand still and where it was.

Two minutes later her hand started stroking his thigh. She watched as his fingers tightened around the wheel. Growing bolder, she moved her hand up to palm him through his jeans. The car swerved slightly, "Stay on the road, Mr. Grant." She warned, a smile on her face, "Think you can do that?"

He turned slightly, the mischievous glint in her eyes making him groan. He nodded and she snickered, leaning over to press a kiss to his jaw before her fingers flew to his belt buckle, "Lift. She ordered, yanking his pants down slightly. He sighed when his erection sprang free. Her mouth watered slightly at the sight of him. She gave him a few firm strokes before leaning over and flicking her tongue over the tip, lapping up the bit of precum.

"Fuck." He mumbled, one hand releasing the wheel to grip her hair.

Clenching her thighs together, Olivia dove in, licking him from root to tip before taking him into her mouth. He let out a long groan, the car jerking slightly. She pulled away, "Eyes on the road." She murmured. He grunted and she ducked back down, one hand raising to fondle his balls, the other steading herself against the center console. She didn't have the best angle, but based on the litany of praises tumbling from Fitz's lips, she was getting the job done. She hummed around and him and took him deeper, until the tip of him brushed the back of her throat. He came with a hoarse shout of her name. She licked and laved at him for a few more moments before settling back in her seat.

He was still panting, "Damn, woman." He muttered.

She swiped her finger at the corner of her mouth before sucking it clean, "A good damn I hope." Glancing around, he pulled off on the side of the road, unbuckling his belt, "Fitz?" She asked.

He lunged at her, dragging her mouth to his. He kissed her hard, her toes curling at the passion in it. He tugged at her, whipping her body around effortlessly until her legs were draped over the center console. He grinned wickedly at her as he tugged on her shoes, "My turn."

"Oh god." She mumbled as he stripped her of her jeans. If anyone passed by them, they would find her in a very vulnerable and compromising position, but she couldn't find herself to care as he slipped a finger through her folds.

"You're drenched." He murmured, his steel eyes flicking up to her, "That little stunt turned you on, didn't it?" He asked. She hummed in response before letting out a loud mewl as he adjusted his own seat and hunched over her, his tongue flicking out to lick a thick stripe through her. He held her down, one hand on her trembling stomach and dove in like a man starved. Her core clenched around nothing as she came, her back arching and a scream echoing throughout the car.

She slumped back down, "Damn." She murmured.

He grinned, slowly feeding her leg through the pant leg of her jeans before slipping her shoes back on, "Good damn, I hope." He murmured.

She nodded, adjusting her seat and fastening her belt just as lights flashed behind them. " _Fuck_!" She muttered, turning to look.

Fitz cringed, "Well, shit." He swallowed hard and glanced at her, "Your hair, Livie." He murmured, raising a hand to try to rake through it as she leaned over and thumbed away a bit of her lipstick at the corner of his mouth. A moment later there was a tap at their window and a flashlight shining in, Fitz rolled the window down, "Problem, officer?"

The man studied them, "I was going to ask the two of you the same thing."

Olivia jumped in the moment she saw Fitz start to stutter, "I dropped my phone and couldn't find it. We pulled over so I could turn the overhead light back on." She explained, "We were just getting ready to pull back on." She smiled warmly at him.

The officer flashed his light between the two of them, "You're not from around here, are you?"

They shook their heads, "No sir, just passing through." Fitz replied.

He stepped back, "Okay, well you best be on your way." He drawled out, stepping back. They were both silent until he'd taken off down the dark road.

Bursting into a simultaneous fit of laughter, Fitz reached over and clasped her hand, pulling the car back onto the road, "Perhaps we keep to hotel rooms and broom closets?" He suggested.

Olivia smirked, "Didn't like your walk on the wild side, Grant?"

He grinned at her, "On the contrary, I enjoyed that quite a bit."

"And just think," Olivia purred, leaning over to press a kiss to his ear, "we have the whole night ahead of us." He groaned at her words.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 _Pierce the room like a cannonball_

* * *

 _Marietta, Georgia_

Olivia bit her lip as they entered the town hall set up for a prayer breakfast. Her eyes quickly scanned the room, connecting with a pair of steely blue ones. She tried to school her face, but he sent her a wink and she had to bite her lip to keep from grinning. Abby snickered next to her, "Stop having eye sex with your hot fixer." She nudged Olivia's ribs, "I mean he's hot and all, but"

Olivia spun and rolled her eyes, "Honestly, Abs, is that _all_ you think about?"

Quinn snorted, "Yes, it is all she thinks about. And it should be all you think about, too. He's fucking hot."

"Who's fucking hot?" Harrison asked, swinging his arms over Quinn and Olivia's shoulders.

Olivia rolled her eyes and shrugged his arm off of her, "No one's hot. Now come on, go make sure that the press is set up." She shoved him away from them before glaring at Quinn, "Voices down. No one knows." She reminded her. "Only you and Abby."

It was Quinn's turn to roll her eyes, "I don't know why you don't just admit it. I mean isn't the sneaking around"

"Incredibly hot." Abby cut in, reappearing cradling three cups of coffee, "Take, drink." She encouraged. When they didn't, she snapped, "Drink now." She ordered.

Quinn and Olivia shared a look before taking long sips of their coffee. Olivia coughed when she swallowed, "What is that?"

"Whiskey." Abby took a sip and sighed, "Prayer meeting now tolerable."

Quinn grinned, "You're a fucking genius." The two tapped glasses and Olivia snorted, still sipping her own coffee. "I'm going to check on Edison. I need to make sure he has his talking points."

SCANDAL

An hour into the prayer breakfast, Edison and Sally had both spoken and were now mingling with the guests. "You look very nice today." He murmured in her ear.

She took a step away from him, "People are here." She reminded him softly.

"It would be easier if you weren't so irresistible." He murmured back, leaning around her to pick up a bagel on the table in front of her.

She snorted, "Right, I'm the one who looks like a blue-eyed god, wandering around with a hot body." She stepped further away from him, "Excuse me while I go check on my candidate." She winked at him before turning away.

"You are so screwed." Leo came up behind him, "You're doing her, aren't you?"

Fitz turned slowly, "I'm not doing anyone."

Leo looked around Fitz, his eyes honing in on Olivia's ass, "You should do her. She's hot." He took the bagel out of Fitz's hand and shoved it in his mouth, taking a large bite, "Not as hot as Red, that one's fiery, but she's still hot."

Fitz stared at Leo as he chewed, "That was my bagel." He pointed to the food in his friend's hand, "And seriously, you will never get laid if you eat like that."

Leo stared at the bagel and then at Fitz's retreating figure, he turned when Jake approached, "Fitz says I can't get laid."

Jake stared at the bagel and then at Leo chewing it, "That's gross. He's probably right, there's no way you're getting laid."

Leo scowled and Jake laughed, walking away. "You really are disgusting." Abby agreed from behind him, weaving slightly, a mug in her hand.

Leo's eyes moved from Abby's swaying form to the mug in her hand, "You've been drinking." His eyes lit up as he took another bite of the bagel, "You have booze. Where is the booze?"

Abby snickered and took a step forward, "I have whiskey cause prayer meeting things are gross." She murmured. "Want some?"

He leaned forward, "Uh, fuck yes." She giggled and latched onto his wrist, pulling him towards the coffee bar to make him a cup. She pulled a flask out of her purse, pouring some in the cup. "You're a goddess." He saluted her with his cup, "So, tell me about Pope. Cause I think that Fitz wants to screw her and I think we should make it happen."

Abby choked on her sip of coffee, "What?" She asked.

"Pope and Grant. Wouldn't that be hilarious? Chambers would have a fucking heart attack." Leo grinned, rocking on the balls of his feet.

Abby arched a brow, "You want to piss off your candidate's chief of staff? Your campaign is weird."

"This coming from the woman who is getting drunk at an event." He shot back.

"You're drinking with me." He challenged her.

Her eyes narrowed in a glare. After a moment of silence, she asked, "Want to get out of here?" She asked suddenly.

He grinned at her, "Lead the way, Red."

Olivia couldn't help, but smirk as Abby and Leo moved away from the coffee cart together. She turned slightly, her eyes inevitably landing on Fitz. The smug man smirked knowingly at her. She felt her cheeks heat up as she averted her gaze. With a fond shake of her head, she picked up her whiskey laced coffee and moved towards the head of the region. That man could reduce her to a puddle of goo with just one look. She was absolutely screwed.

SCANDAL

When the event was wrapping up, Olivia was looking around doing a head count of her staffers before they got back on the bus to go to the headquarters for lunch. She frowned, "Huck," she snagged the furtive man, "where is Abby?"

Huck cleared his throat and shrugged, "I don't know."

Her eyes narrowed on him, "Huck, I know when you're lying to me. Where is Abby?"

He put his hands behind his back and straightened, "She left with Leo Bergen from Langston's campaign."

Olivia arched a brow and snorted, "Of course she did." With a sigh, Olivia nodded, "Okay, help me wrangle everyone? Perhaps you can pull Harrison away from the fruit tray." She muttered.

With a sharp nod, Huck moved away. "Wrangling the staffers I the worst." Fitz's voice murmured in her ear, "I'm glad I have Chambers to do the bitch work like that." He admitted.

Olivia chuckled, "Great team spirit there, Mr. Grant."

"I'll show you some team spirit tonight." He offered darkly.

Her eyelashes fluttered as she looked up at him, "You better." She stepped forward, "Oh, and I think Abby and Leo left together a while ago, so I wouldn't bother searching for him." She stepped back.

Fitz looked around, "What?"

Olivia was still laughing as she walked away from him.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 _Now all we know is don't let go_

* * *

Olivia picked up her mug of coffee and took a grateful sip. "Caffeine is the drink of the gods." She hummed, taking an even longer sip. This was her fourth cup since they'd arrived at the diner an hour and a half earlier. She'd gotten maybe four hours of sleep the night before after coming back from a tiny town in northwest Georgia. Fitz looked like he'd gotten even less sleep after being in southeast Georgia.

Fitz chuckled and took a sip of his own, "I thought that was wine." He teased, thoroughly amused by her obsession with very expensive red wines. The same could be said of his love of a good scotch though.

Her eyes flicked open, locking on his soft blue ones, "I guess they both are for different reasons." She reached her hand across the table, lacing their fingers together. They were back in Atlanta finally and managed to find a diner far away from any field offices related to either of their campaigns, so they were enjoying a leisurely Sunday breakfast. She knew she should be working, even if offices didn't open until 11, but she was much more content to spend her morning with Fitz, particularly since they'd been on opposite ends of the state for the past four days. It was slightly terrifying how much it upset her that she hadn't seen him, even if just to be on the receiving end of a salacious wink. There was just something comforting about knowing he was nearby and she'd missed that desperately.

She wasn't quite ready to analyze that feeling, yet. Maybe in another couple of weeks.

"What are you thinking?" He asked softly, squeezing her hand and bringing her back to him. They'd just finished eating and now they were just enjoying being together.

"I missed you." She admitted after a moment of consideration. "This past week," she clarified, "I prefer seeing you."

He grinned at her like the cat that ate the canary. "You really missed me?" He asked. She nodded in confirmation and he brought her hand up to his lips, brushing a kiss to the back of it. "I missed you, too." He commented. "It's more fun sneaking around with you than with Billy." He teased.

Olivia let out a bark of laughter, "Oh, gross, Fitz. Billy Chambers? Really? At least go with Jake or Leo. They're semi-tolerable."

Fitz's eyes sparkled as he answered simply, "Oh, Billy doesn't know about Jake or Leo. I keep all of my _affairs_ separate."

Rolling her eyes, Olivia grimaced, "You are a nasty boy, Fitzgerald Grant."

Standing up and leaning over the table, he leered at her, "Somehow that usually works out in your favor." He winked at her and pressed a fast, hard kiss to her lips. She didn't even have a chance to respond before he was seated back on his side of the booth, sipping on his cup of coffee like that conversation hadn't just happened. "So, has Abby said anything about Leo? Cause Leo is keeping his trap shut like he didn't just bang your best friend."

Olivia dropped her head to her hands, "You did not just say the word 'bang' in that context in a sentence, out loud, in public."

He continued to grin at her, "Yes, yes I did."

She rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to respond when her phone went off. With a sigh, she answered, "What?"

" _We have a potential problem."_

Her face fell, "Isn't there always one. I'll be there in thirty." Hanging up, she stood and picked up her purse, "We have a potential problem." She smirked at him, "I'll go ahead and thank you and yours in advance for that." She teased.

He shrugged and helped her into her jacket, "Well, whatever it was we did, you're most welcome." He leaned down, cupping her cheeks, "I'll see you tonight?" He asked quietly.

She hummed against his lips, stepping closer and wrapping her arms around his waist. "Yes, please." She murmured. "We have catching up to do."

He nudged her nose with his, "That we do, Livie." He brushed his lips over her forehead once more before stepping back. "I'll text you when we're wrapping up."

Biting back the words on the tip of her tongue, she waved at him before making her way to the front of the door.

She arrived at the office twenty-two minutes later, "What problem do we have?"

Harrison grabbed her wrist and yanked her into a back room, "Sh, not so loud, woman." He ordered, shutting the door behind her. Quinn, Huck and Abby were already there, "Okay, so I just determined this today."

Olivia crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, "Determined what today?" She asked slowly.

"We have a leak." He replied.

Her eyebrows shot up, "A leak?"

Harrison nodded, "Someone is spilling our campaign secrets to Langston's people."

Olivia pressed her lips into a thin line. "I want you all to gather whatever evidence you have of this and bring it to me in an hour. Not a word to Edison or anyone else. Are we clear?" They all nodded, "Great, Ab, Quinn, I need a second with the two of you." When Harrison and Huck left, she looked at them with wide eyes, "I don't tell Fitz things about our campaign, but you don't think"

"Please, Liv, we know you're not sharing anything inappropriate with him." Quinn cut in.

"But you don't think he's doing something like hacking into my cell phone or computer or"

"No," Abby held up her hands, "no, that's not it. This has to be coming from another level. This has to be coming from a different source. Let's just gather what we've got, see what information is being passed on and do an audit of the volunteers here at the main headquarters."

Olivia chewed on her bottom lip. "Yeah, you're right, that's a good idea."

"And under no circumstances are you to freak out at Fitz over this until there's something to freak out over." Quinn told her slowly, "You've got a good thing with him, don't wreck it over a stupid campaign in _Georgia_ of all places."

Olivia chuckled, "You know what's really funny," she commented, "out of all the head campaign staffers for both Langston and Davis, there's only one person who believes in the candidates and the place."

Both women stared at her, "Billy." They replied together.

"Holy shit." Abby shook her head, "It would make sense if it's Billy whose getting the information. Let's be honest, Fitz seems like a decent human being, despite who his father is, and wouldn't stoop to that level. And Leo is a good guy, too. They're good guys."

It was Olivia's turn to smirk, "So Leo, this is a thing now?"

Abby flushed, her cheeks turning the same color as her hair, "Yeah, I think it's going to be. He's a good guy. A dirty guy, but a good guy. And when I say dirty, what I mean is"

"We know what you mean." Olivia replied.

"We _always_ know what you mean." Quinn cut in.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

 _ **AN: Just a little smut and some Olitz feels before Thanksgiving. Happy Turkey Day everyone, try not kill your family members! ~ XOXO MAS**_

* * *

 _We are alone, just you and me, up in your and our slates are clean_

* * *

Olivia curled up on her sofa, the local news on low in the background (she was quite ready to get out of the South, away from some of the most bizarre stories she'd ever heard, and since they were so close to Florida, they often heard about the odd things that happened down there), her hand wrapped around a glass of wine, a bowl of popcorn precariously perched on her lap. When the lock turned and the door opened, she looked up, "Look who finally broke away from work?" She teased, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She'd been anxiously waiting for Fitz to come home. And her anxiety had nothing to do with the file folder on the table, and everything to do with a very big question she had to ask him.

Fitz grinned at her, "This is a welcome sight." He jerked off his tie and shrugged out of his coat, toeing off his shoes and tossing everything on a spare chair before joining her on the sofa.

"Have a sip. This is a _really_ good bottle." She handed him her glass, setting the bowl on the coffee table and wrapping herself in his embrace.

He sighed after taking a sip. "Wow," he glanced at the glass, "that is amazing." Leaning forward, he reached for the bottle, his eyes skimming over the label, probably trying to remember it for a later date. They both did enjoy a good glass of wine.

Propping her chin up on his chest, she considered Fitz for a moment, "If I tell you something, do you promise not to get angry with me?"

He looked down at her, an eyebrow raised, "What do we have to face tomorrow because of you?" He asked with a mock tired sigh. They were used to this, throwing each other curve balls and trying to undo what the other had precariously fixed. They may be on opposite sides, but there was something sinfully fun about making up for their wrongs and taking out their frustration in a pleasurable way.

This time, though, Olivia wasn't throwing a curveball at his campaign. Sitting up, she reached for the glass in his hands, setting it on the coffee table next to the bottle and placing the popcorn out of the way before she stared at him head on, "Someone in our campaign is leaking secrets." Fitz's brow furrowed, "Harrison has suspected it for a while now, but when Sally made a comment about our campaign losing a decent portion of our high ranking staffers, he knew there was a leak. I wondered where she got that from, I honestly thought she, or rather _you all_ ," she playfully poked his chest, "were just trying to stir the pot, but nothing came of the rumors. That's not true, it's something _Harrison_ spread around our campaign quietly. I don't know how the hell I missed it." She reached over to the table and handed him a folder, "We don't know who it is, yet, but there are two people working together."

Fitz's frown deepened as he opened the file. He skimmed through the connections that Harrison, Huck, Abby and Quinn had made regarding information Sally had no business knowing. It seemed like they were right, there was someone leaking information to the Langston campaign, "What do you want me to do with this?" He asked slowly.

She shook her head, "Nothing, Fitz. You don't have to do anything, I wouldn't want to put that on you, but you should know that we have to figure out who is leaking information and who they're handing it off to. If we find out"

"You'll go after them." Fitz finished. He nodded, "If I can help, Liv, I will. I want to win, I want Sally to win, she's my candidate, but I play as cleanly and fairly as I can."

Olivia smiled softly at him, leaning forward to brush her lips over his, "You're a really good guy, aren't you?" He shrugged at that, dropping the file to the floor before pushing her onto her back. She let out a soft moan as his lips skimmed across her cheek and down her throat, his teeth nipping at her rapidly beating pulse. "I have one more," she moaned again when his hand slipped under her silk tank top, "Fitz," she mewled when his hand slithered up further to cup her breast, "one more question." She swallowed hard, and not because of the feel of his rough palm on her soft skin. She was nervous to ask this question. It was a big step for her.

He growled and pulled back, "Fine, one more question." He consented.

She bit her lip and looked up at him with wide eyes, "You have next week off, right?" He nodded, "So do we. I was thinking about New York City."

"New York City?" He asked, pulling back even more to study her. He had an inkling of what she was suggesting, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions and scare her off. She was still a little timid when it came to their relationship (the fact that she gave him a key to her apartment before he even had one made for her was a huge step in the right direction), and with a potential leak threatening her campaign, he didn't want to do anything to drive her away. She meant far too much to him already. It was something he wasn't quite ready to analyze yet, but he knew better than to let this woman slip through his fingers.

She nodded slowly, "I was thinking about going there and getting lost in the crowd and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?"

He grinned down at her, "On a vacation, just the two of us?" He asked carefully. Her tiny hands skimmed up his biceps as she nodded. "Livie, I would love to go on vacation with you." He nudged her nose with his, "Now, no more questions." He murmured, his lips pressing lightly to hers in a feather-light kiss. She reached up to latch onto him for a firmer kiss, but he slid out of her grasp, his lips moving to her stomach, slowly pushing her shirt up as he went. She sighed, leaning into each light touch as he slowly removed her clothing, his mouth following his hands as he went. She let out a long mewl when his teeth latched onto a nipple, tugging it into a hard peak before repeating the process with its twin. His hands weren't idle, sliding down her stomach, ghosting over her hips, nudging her thighs even further apart.

She thrust her hips up fruitlessly, " _Fitz_." She moaned.

He chuckled, his breath warm against her ribcage, "Did you want something, Livie?"

She growled, grinding her core against his thigh, "Yes, you in me right now." She ordered.

"So very bossy and impatient." He nipped at the side of her breast, "I'm not sure I want to follow your orders."

Yanking on the collar of his shirt, she pulled him up before shoving him back to the other side of the sofa, "Naked, now." She muttered, her fingers flying over the buttons in search of skin. He chuckled low in his throat until her hands splayed across his chest, fingers flicking his nipples. Her lips followed, teeth scraping over the hollow of his throat.

" _Livie_." He moaned as her hands slid down to his pants, ripping open the belt and the button before thrusting her hand inside, curling around his length and giving it a gentle squeeze, " _Fuck_."

It was her turn to laugh as she yanked his pants and boxers down his legs, pulling his socks off in the process. "Now who's impatient?" She parroted back, her fingers tracing the muscles of his abdomen as she positioned herself above him, content to tease them both for a moment.

His hands gripped her hips, trying to force her down onto his length, but she held herself up, "Olivia," his voice was low and rasping, "teasing is mean."

"Tell me, Fitz," she whispered in his ear, "what do you want?"

He growled, "I want to feel you wrapped around me. And I want to feel it right now." Reaching between their bodies, he positioned himself at her entrance, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as she slid home, seating him fully inside of her.

" _Fuck_." She moaned. "So good, Fitz." Rocking above him slightly, she reveled in the feel of him thick and full inside of her before rising up and falling back down, setting a pace that had them both panting, hands and lips reaching for any patch of skin they could find. She moved just slightly and he brushed over that spot that made her see stars. "Right there." She gasped, doubling her pace, his own hips rising to meet hers. She let out a moan of his name when she fell over the edge, and Fitz followed a few thrusts later.

She stayed still as she felt him soften within her, content to just lay sprawled across his chest for a moment. "You really want to go on vacation with me?" He asked quietly.

Olivia hummed and pressed a kiss to his chest, "Yeah, I really want to go on vacation with you."

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 _We are alone just you and me up in your room and our slates are clean_

* * *

 _New York City, New York_

Slipping his arms around her waist, Fitz tugged Olivia's back into his chest as they stared out the floor to ceiling windows down at Times Square, "So," he pressed his lips to her neck, "what should we do first?"

Grinning, Olivia turned in his embrace, winding her arms up around his neck, "Well, I was going to say go find some lunch, but I can think of a better way to spend our time together right now." Her fingers slipped through his hair and she tugged his lips down to hers, nipping insistently at his bottom lip until he opened for her. Spinning them around, Fitz walked them backwards towards the bed, lightly shoving Olivia back when she hit.

With a grin, she moved herself to the center, watching with hooded eyes as he crawled up after her like a predator, "As far as I'm concerned, we could stay in this hotel room for the entire five days we're here naked. Maybe even naked and wet." His hands slid up under the hem of her dress as he spoke, inching the material up her legs slowly.

She grinned down at him, "Naked and wet is always good." Her words turned into a moan when his fingers just barely skimmed across her mound, leaving her panting slightly, " _Fitz_." She groaned.

He leered up at her, shooting her a wink that promised heady pleasure before his lips began following the path his hands had created earlier. He pressed hot, open-mouthed kisses to her right foot, moving languidly up her leg before repeating the process with her left leg. By the time he reached her hip, completely ignoring where she was painfully aching for him, she was flushed and writhing beneath him, "Is there something you want, Livie?" He asked teasingly.

She groaned, latching onto his biceps to haul him up to her, "You're teasing." She accused weakly, wrapping her legs around his hips and bringing him down to her. Rocking up into him, she moaned at the friction, it wasn't enough to sate her by any means, but it at least took the edge off the ache deep in her belly.

He brushed his lips over her neck, his hands raising to cup her breasts and tweak her nipples, pulling them into sharp points, "Yes, I am." He agreed, "Tell me, Livie, tell me what you want." He whispered in her ear, his breath warm on her skin.

"I want you to _fuck me_ , Fitz. Right now." She ordered sharply.

It was his turn to groan at her words, rearing back to strip off his shirt and shuck his pants off, nearly tripping in his attempt to take off his shoes and socks at the same time. She was grinning as he hovered above her, "Now, the only question is," he groaned as he rocked through her folds, coating himself with her arousal.

"The only question is what?" She hissed as he continued to tease them both.

"How do I want you?" Olivia let out a moan at his words, her back arching. With a grin, he flipped her on her stomach, "On your hands and knees." With a grin of her own, she pushed herself up to that position, rocking her hips back insistently until she felt his hands on her hips, "So impatient." He brushed a line of feather light kisses down her spine.

"Stop talking and just" her words dropped off and she let out a long moan as he pushed in her, " _fuck_."

"So hot and tight." He murmured in her ear, "Always feels so good." His fingers digging into her hips, he set a brutal pace that had Olivia teetering on the precipice of pleasure. Reaching around, he pressed his fingers right above where they were joined, "With me, Livie. With me." He mumbled.

"Fuck, Fitz." She cried out, her arms giving out as she collapsed onto the bed. A few erratic thrusts later and he followed her, leaning over her back for a moment before rolling off of her. "Damn." She murmured.

He grinned, "You always seem to think that."

Rolling onto her side, she reached up to stroke some hair off of his forehead, "That's because it always is." She whispered.

SCANDAL

Huck glanced down at the file he'd composed on Fitzgerald Grant. He'd been digging into all of the employees and volunteers on the Langston campaign and he just kept coming back to Grant. There was something off about him. And he always seemed to gravitate towards Olivia at events. Huck was beginning to wonder if that was his way of keeping suspicion off of himself. He was friendly with Olivia, so Olivia would never suspect that he would trade campaign secrets right under her nose.

He sighed and turned back to his laptop. Huck had gotten a room at a hotel just down from where Fitz was staying in Times Square, he knew that the Langston fixer was here with someone, he just wasn't sure who. He'd booked this trip so last minute that Huck had barely had time to find out Grant was even going out of town, let alone where he was going. He'd kept the trip from everyone at his own campaign, which meant that he had to be meeting his informant up here.

Shutting down his computer, Huck closed the laptop and picked up his wallet and cell phone, he'd go find some fast food and then stake out by Fitz's hotel and wait until he came out to find out who Fitz was spilling secrets to.

SCANDAL

Jake took a sip of his soda and a bite out of his beer. The burgers were just not as good in New York as they were down in Georgia. He never thought he'd admit to liking the South, but damn they did have some good soul food down there. Sighing, he adjusted his binoculars, focusing in on the hotel Olivia Pope was staying at. Jake hadn't said anything to anyone yet, but he had this gut feeling that someone in his camp was talking to someone in the Davis camp. And he was inclined to believe that Olivia Pope was behind it. How else could she win so many campaigns? She had to be a professional at political espionage.

Jake frowned as the same car circled the block for the third time before finally pulling into an empty spot just across from his. Turning his sights away from the hotel, he focused in on the suspicious car. "Well, shit." Jake muttered, honing in on Huck. Jake assumed he was there to scout out the meeting, perhaps extra protection for Olivia. "Fuck." He grunted, shifting down in his seat slightly in hopes of obscuring himself even more. He was so screwed if Huck found him.

They'd both been a part of the same government organization, B-613, years before. Jake had come in after Huck had been released. He wasn't sure how Huck got out, the only reason Jake was out was because Fitz's father, Big Jerry, made a few phone calls on his behalf. Jerry was hoping Jake would be able to convince Fitz to go into politics, and he had, just not the way Big Jerry wanted him to.

With a sigh, Jake turned back to the hotel. He needed to see who Olivia was with and get the hell out before Huck found him.

SCANDAL

Olivia let out a laugh as she adjusted the straps on her black dress. "No, Fitzgerald, we're going out. We have reservations at a rooftop restaurant. And it's _not_ a million degrees out and humid. We're going. Besides, we don't get to do things like this in Atlanta." The two of them had spent the day tangled up in the sheets, only moving to eat lunch at the table and then take a shower. They had certainly gotten to enjoy being naked and wet. As much as Olivia loved Fitz naked and wet (and she really did), she was looking forward to having a night out and letting other women see that she was with the sexiest and kindest man on earth. She wanted to flaunt him and she was damn well going to.

"It's not my fault that you're irresistible and I want you all the time." He pressed a kiss to her neck, mirroring the pose that had them staying in all day long.

"And you can have me after dinner and drinks." She bargained. "I want to go on a date. Now."

He chuckled, watching as she applied a light coat of gloss to her lips, "Fine, then we better get out of here before I rip the dress off of you in an effort to get you naked again."

Laughing, Olivia tucked the tube in her small clutch, picking up her black wrap. Extending her hand, she linked her fingers with Fitz's, "Come on, the front desk should have a cab waiting for us already."

SCANDAL

Huck craned his neck, just able to make out Grant's figure as he and a woman exited the hotel. They'd been up there all day long. He'd forgotten how exhausting it was to just sit and watch someone. He frowned when he thought he recognized the woman Fitz was with. Picking up his binoculars, he focused them in on the two laughing as they walked towards their cab. "Liv?" Huck murmured in disbelief.

When the cab pulled away he let out a groan. Stepping out of his car (and slamming the door shut for good measure), he crossed the busy street, banging on the window of another car that had been there all afternoon. The driver, looking thorough chagrined, unlocked the car and motioned for Huck to get in. "What the hell is going on?" Jake snapped once Huck had shut the door.

Glaring at him, Huck replied, "I was going to ask you the same thing. Why is he here with Olivia?"

"How the hell should I know. I was following Olivia, she's got someone in our campaign." Jake accused.

"No," Huck corrected, " _Fitz_ has someone in our campaign giving secrets over to Sally."

The two former spies stared at each other. Someone was right and someone was wrong. The question was, who was it? And the bigger issue was, what was going on between Fitz and Olivia? And who was playing whom?

SCANDAL

"You're here." The man leaned against his hotel room door.

"Sorry, my flight was canceled because of mechanical problems. I had to wait through three other flights before I could get another one." The woman explained, setting her back near the door, "At least Atlanta seems to have a flight running every thirty minutes to New York."

The man grinned at her, "Come on in, I just opened a bottle of wine and pulled out the menu for room service. You hungry?"

Nodding, the woman replied, "Yes, and for more than just food." She winked at him, chuckling as he shut the door, slipping the do not disturb sign on the handle first.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 _Just twin fire signs, four blue eyes_

* * *

Olivia giggled as Fitz spun her around their hotel room, her black dress swishing between her legs. With a shake of her head, she laughed, "Honestly, Fitz, you're so cheesy. Now, I'm tired and"

"Drunk." Fitz laughed with her, dipping her. She clutched to his biceps to keep from crumpling to the floor in a boneless heap.

"So are you." Olivia accused playfully. Olivia's phone ringing stopped the stumbling for of dancing they were doing in front of the window.

"Don't answer it." Fitz mumbled, drawing Olivia into his arms and burying his face into her neck. "Vacation. Sex. Naked. Wet." He reminded her, "No working. No phones."

Pulling away, Olivia picked up her phone and glanced at the screen. "It's Huck." She told him, "It could be important." She silently reminded him of the issue with the leak feeding his campaign secrets. He caught onto her train of thought and sighed in resignation. He nodded and motioned that he'd keep quiet while he spoke to Huck, "What?" She snapped, nodding in acknowledgment (being sure to grab his ass as well) when he pointed to the bathroom.

 _"_ _Liv?" Huck's voice echoed nervously through the phone, drawing her attention to him once again._

"Yeah, I'm here, what's up, Huck? I've only got a minute." She was grinning when she heard the shower turn on followed by Fitz's pants flying through the bathroom doorway and into the short hallway, just in her view.

 _"_ _I think I know who the leak is." Huck replied slowly, almost hesitantly. His tone made Emma's stomach plummet slightly._

"Well, Huck, spit it out so we can deal with it." Olivia ordered sharply.

 _He cleared his throat, and after a moment of impatient fidgeting on Olivia's end, he finally answered, "It's you."_

Olivia was stunned into silence, her eyes flying to the bathroom door before she found a scoff in her, though it was half-hearted and disbelieving. "What?" She asked quietly.

 _"_ _I know you're in New York with Fitz Grant from Sally's campaign." Huck accused, "And that means he's the one who's been"_

"Fitz isn't the leak." Olivia cut in certainly, interrupting Huck's accusation before he could even finish his sentence, "just, he isn't. You have to trust me on this."

 _"_ _Trust you?" Huck repeated her words, disbelief coloring his tone, "Olivia, you're lying to everyone and"_

"Abby and Quinn already know." Olivia blurted out, giving him a weak defense, "They've known from the beginning and"

 _"_ _How do you know it isn't him, though, Liv?" Huck asked, "I mean what do you really know about him?"_

Fitz emerged from the shower at that moment, a confused (and very disappointed) look on his face, "I know enough." Olivia replied into the phone, "I also know that I haven't shared anything of value." She snapped, "Keep looking." She ordered, angrily snapping the phone shut and tossing it onto the bed. She tugged at her hair, letting out a small growl of frustration.

"Are you okay, Livie?" Fitz asked worriedly, "Huck had bad news?"

"No, Huck had worthless news." She hesitated, "He" she stopped speaking when Fitz's phone rang. She sighed, "Just answer that."

Fitz frowned down at her, "Liv, if something's happened, maybe I can help and"

"Answer your phone, Fitz." She snapped sharply.

With wide eyes, Fitz picked up his phone, "This better be good, Jake, because your timing is shitty."

 _"_ _My timing may be shitty, but your decision making is seriously fucked up. Are you trying to ruin your entire career? Do you want your father to say I told you so?" Jake yelled._

"What the hell are you talking about?" Fitz asked tiredly, his eyes falling on Olivia who was now seated on the bed, staring at her hands.

 _"_ _I mean that I know you didn't go to California. You're in New York City with Olivia goddamned Pope. Are you an idiot?" He screeched._

"You followed me?" Fitz spit out.

 _"_ _Yeah, and so did Huck from her campaign. Are you working with her? Or are you just getting information from her that she's going to use to ruin your career?" Jake asked._

"I'm not using any information. She's not giving me any information and"

 _"_ _And you don't think that when you lose this election it won't be because she impaired your judgment?" Jake asked. "You don't think that she's distracting you because she's hot and you're lusting after her and"_

"That's not what this relationship is about." Fitz interrupted defensively.

 _"_ _Fuck!" Jake moaned, "You're in a relationship with her? You're actually dating her? Dude, wake up, she's using you to get what she needs. She knows that Langston is a viable threat and that you're good at your job and she's using you to make sure Davis wins the election so her reputation remains intact, meanwhile yours is shot to hell. And I'd bet everything on the fact that once the election is over she'll dump your ass and use it against you." Jake informed him._

Fitz's eyes landed on Olivia, who was still sitting on the bed. He swallowed hard. "I've got to go, Jake." He hung up without waiting for a response.

Olivia's doe eyes connected with Fitz's blue ones, "Huck thinks that I'm inadvertently giving you information and you're the one using it to sabotage Edison's campaign." She murmured. "Are you? Are you using anything I may or may not have accidentally shared with you?"

He scowled at her, "You did not seriously ask me that?" She didn't move. He crossed his arms defensively over his bare chest, "Are you using me?" At her arched brow, he elaborated, "Are you just screwing me to distract me so I accidentally throw Langston's campaign and you win?"

Her mouth fell open, "You can't believe that." She murmured.

"You asked me if I was stealing campaign secrets." He reminded her sharply.

Her eyes dropped to her lap, "I knew this wouldn't work."

He scoffed at that, "Well, you certainly saw to that." He muttered.

Standing up, Olivia brushed past him, "Well, you won't have to worry about me using you to ruin your campaign any longer and I don't have to worry about you stealing information from our campaign." She pulled her bag out of the closet and threw her clothes haphazardly in it. Fitz didn't move as Olivia finished packing, "Goodbye, Fitz."

He nodded, "Goodbye, Olivia."

When the door shut behind her, Olivia clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a sob, pressing her head against the cool wood of the door before she pushed off of it, intent to just go to the airport and wait for the next flight back to Atlanta.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 _So you were never a saint, and I_ _'_ _ve loved in shades wrong_

* * *

"So you just _left_?" Abby asked. Olivia nodded and took another sip of her wine. With a glare, Abby set her own glass down, crossing Olivia's small living room and smacking her hard on the back of her head.

"Ow!" Olivia protested. "Quinn?" She shot her other friend a look for some back up.

"I'm with Abby on this. You deserve more than a slap. You don't honestly believe the bullshit Huck fed you, do you? I mean there's no proof. It's unsubstantiated and you overreacted and pushed away an actual nice guy. Like always."

Olivia set her own glass down, "Okay, here me out on this." She requested, "And don't interrupt until I'm finished." She requested. Abby scoffed, but nodded. "Look, by being with me Fitz has access to all kinds of campaign secrets. It's the perfect way to get"

"But you haven't told him anything." Quinn interrupted.

Olivia sighed, but continued, "Let's say I take a shower."

"Okay?" Abby asked.

"So I'm alone, in the bathroom with the water running and Fitz is out here by himself left to his own devices." The two women wait for her to continue, "And my laptop just happens to be in my bag and it's not Fort Knox."

"You think he got information _that_ way?" Abby interrupted, "No way, Harrison proved the leak was coming from in the office. Remember when he spread the rumor we were all leaving and it got back to the Langston campaign?"

Olivia's rolled her eyes, "So he planted someone in there first and then figured out there was also an open door with me and took it."

It was Quinn's turn to roll her eyes, "You're insane. You know that right? He wasn't using you. In fact, I'll prove it."

"And I'll help." Abby nodded to Quinn, "We're going to find out who is really behind this and you're going to feel like a total idiot and apologize to Fitz and then"

"I don't want to apologize to him!" Olivia shrieked, "I mean he thinks I set out to ruin his career anyhow. Why would I want to apologize to him?"

"Because you love him." Abby cut in.

"I do not love him." Olivia protested.

"Yes, you do. The two of you are in love with each other and you're only going to make yourselves miserable by being apart like this. Mark my words, I'm going to find out who is behind this and I'm going to beat Huck up for helping cause this mess." She threatened.

"And I'm going to help her." Quinn agreed.

"You two are insane." Olivia murmured into her wine glass.

SCANDAL

The following Monday Olivia threw herself back into the campaign, realigning her focus on Edison. That's what she was hired to do. She wasn't hired to screw the hot fixer for the opposition. She was hired to make Edison Davis the next senator of Georgia. And she'd be damned if he lost because she was distracted by her raging hormones.

"Okay, what's going on?" Harrison cornered Abby in the break room as Olivia flew out, a cup of tea in her right hand, polling numbers in her left, "She hasn't been this focused since we started out. What's changed? What's wrong?"

"Huck. Huck is what's wrong. He's a fucking idiot." Abby followed Olivia's path, making tracks towards Huck's office.

"Let me just speak in code, you're not really part of the inner circle, you don't need to know what's going on really." Harrison muttered to himself as he poured a cup of coffee, "Just go work like a good little boy and do what you're told."

SCANDAL

"Huck's not saying a word. He's just saying 'Go talk to Liv' over and over again. Can we shoot him?" Quinn asked Abby. "I mean just a little, not a lot." She clarified.

Abby's frown deepened, "We need to find out if the Langston campaign is still getting information and we need to know what Fitz is up to." She pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans. "I have a call to make."

"To Leo?" Quinn teased.

Abby winked at her and dialed the number quickly. "Hey, you got a few minutes to meet up? I think there's a problem and I think it's going to affect you guys as well."

 _She heard some shuffling on the other end,_ _"_ _I think I know what you_ _'_ _re talking about and yes, we_ _'_ _ve got a problem. Meet you at our coffee shop in an hour?_ _"_

"Perfect." Hanging up, Abby pointed to Quinn, "Cover for me while I get the scoop from Leo."

"Good luck, Abs!" Quinn called out as Abby went in search of her purse.

SCANDAL

"Sorry I'm late, I was arguing with Jake. He's not spilling, but I know this is his fault." Leo pressed a kiss to Abby's cheek before sliding into the chair across from her. "So, Fitz is a disaster. He's pretending that he's all about work, but that's not it, it's just the only thing he can distract himself with."

Abby nodded, "Liv is the same way." She tightened her grip around her mug, "I'm going to tell you something you have to keep under your hat." She leaned forward, "We have a leak." At Leo's raised brow, Abby nodded, "Someone from our campaign is talking to someone from your campaign. Harrison, Quinn and I were looking into it and then Huck went off like a cowboy and accused Fitz. He played on how insecure Liv is in relationships and now she's managed to rationalize it."

"Jake did something similar. He accused Olivia of trying to ruin Fitz's reputation by using her," he paused, "feminine wiles to distract Fitz so that we lose the campaign."

Abby leaned back, "Okay, so Jake and Huck are the ones who started this whole mess. The question is"

"Is there any truth to it and when we prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there isn't, then who is behind the leak?" Leo asked, "Because that's going to be the only way to convince these two that they're being stupid."

"I think it's time to start quietly interviewing everyone in our office. Discreetly, of course." Abby sighed.

"I'll do the same on our end, see if anyone has any connections to your campaign." Leo tapped his fingers on the table top, "We'll get to the bottom of it." He paused, "And just so you know, it's not me. I'm not doing anything or"

"I know, Leo." Abby placed her hand over his to stop his nervous fidgeting. "It actually never crossed my mind. I trust you."

He turned his hand over, lacing their fingers together, "Good, because when we get back to DC, I'd like to"

"Me too." She interrupted with an uncharacteristically wide grin, "Me too." She repeated softly.

SCANDAL

Olivia shut her front door with a bang. She felt like her eyes were barely staying open, she'd worked herself to the bone for the last few days just in hopes of getting a decent night's sleep. Ever since she'd walked out of that hotel room she hadn't slept. Her mind had been playing the moment's she'd spent with Fitz on a loop. It was almost as if she was looking for the smoking gun, the moment that would show her it was all a lie and he was only using her. No matter how hard she tried, though, she couldn't find it. He wasn't using her. Her heart was practically screaming that at her, but her mind just couldn't wrap around how coincidental it was that there was a leak in this campaign. Out of all the campaigns she'd worked on, she'd never been involved with the opposition and she'd never had a leak.

It all led back to Fitz.

With a tired sigh she decided to forgo a shower until the morning and skip the wine, popcorn and news in favor of bed.

Stripping down to her pajamas, she cut off the lights, made sure her alarm was set and curled up under the covers.

" _Fitz._ _"_ _She moaned, her back arching, trying to fight the strength behind his hand that was pushing her down lightly into his bed._ _"_ _Fuck."_

 _He chuckled against her, his fingers moving faster inside her, his teeth scraping across her clit. She cried out his name, panting as he drew out her high._ _"_ _You taste amazing._ _"_ _He murmured against her skin, crawling slowly back up his body._

 _She let out a hum, grasping his chin and dragging his lips down to hers. She could taste herself on his tongue, something she_ _'_ _d never found arousing until this very moment. She sighed into the kiss, wrapping her legs around his waist._ _"_ _Naked. Now."_ _She whispered in his ear, tugging gently at his earlobe, grinning when he let out a low, animalistic growl._

 _She chuckled and took advantage of his momentary distraction to flip them over so she was on top, grinding her core down into him. Her lips slid down his body, pushing his unbuttoned shirt off of his shoulders, her nails scraping down his chest and over his abdomen to his belt buckle._

The world falling out from under her woke her up. "Fuck!" She muttered, rubbing her head. Looking around, she realized she'd twisted herself around in her sleep to the point of falling out of bed, her head hitting the nightstand in the process. "Damn it!" She let out a moan, her head falling back against the wood with a dull thump, "Ow." She grumbled under her breath. Her body was aching now, remembering how seamlessly she and Fitz had moved together even that first night after a few too many drinks at the wine bar he'd taken her to. And it'd only gotten better from there.

With a tired sigh, she pushed herself into the standing position, leaving her bedroom altogether to make her way down to her kitchen for a cup of tea, hoping it would lull her back into a sleep. As she stared sleepily at the tea kettle on her stove, she realized that Abby had a point, she was making herself miserable. Still, Huck's logic behind Fitz being the mole made the most sense and until she was shown evidence to the contrary, she was going to have to learn how to deal with losing Fitz the best she could. Even if it meant no sleep.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 _We learn to live with the pain, mosaic broken hearts_

* * *

"You're being an idiot." Leo called out as he pushed the door to Fitz's apartment open. He hadn't bothered knocking or checking to see if Fitz was home. He'd just shoved his emergency only key into the lock and let himself in. In all fairness, though, this felt like an emergency to Leo. Particularly since the situation had Abby overly worried. An overly worried Abby was not a good thing. He may not have known her that long, but he was certain that if her emotions got even slightly off-balanced it would end badly for everyone within her firing range. Literally.

Fitz stood in the middle of his living room, sweatpants hanging low on his hips and his chest damp with sweat from a long run. "You're right, I am, I should've never given you a key to my apartment. You can't just come barging in here whenever you damn well please."

Leo ignored his comment, "So tell me, did running five million miles help? Do you finally not feel like shit for breaking up with Olivia over something _Jake_ told you?"

Fitz's eyes narrowed, "How the hell do you know about that?"

"Because I'm dating Abby Whelan!" Leo rolled his eyes with a huff, "And don't pretend like you don't know about it. And Abby said that Olivia is miserable and upset and isn't sleeping and is working herself to the bone and the two of you are being so completely stupid right now. You don't honestly think she's out to ruin your career do you?"

Fitz capped his water bottle and threw it into the sofa, "Yes, I do. Just like she thinks I'm stealing information off her computer when she's not paying attention."

Letting out a long groan of frustration, Leo shook his head, "She doesn't really believe that. Not truly. I mean come on! How is it that you two are some of the smartest people in the world, yet you believe those two former spy idiots who have nothing but supposition and paranoia to back them up?" He asked.

"Jake doesn't give out any information without proof. Of course he has proof. He just"

"What?"

"Hasn't gotten it to me yet." Fitz defended lamely.

Leo stared at his friend for thirty seconds before bursting out into a round of fresh laughter, "You are such an idiot. How is it you graduated from Harvard at the top of your class? How is that even possible to be this stupid when you managed to earn that degree?" He paced in front of Fitz, "You and Olivia are running yourselves ragged."

"Good, maybe they'll lose then." Fitz snapped.

Leo's eyes narrowed, "Mark my words, when I get my hands on Jake and his so called 'proof' that he hasn't gotten to you yet, I'm going to strangle him with it." Turning on his heel, Leo slammed Fitz's apartment door on his way out.

SCANDAL

"Billy!" Sally called out from her office, "Come here, please!"

Billy glanced up from the packaged he'd just received via courier and nodded, "Coming, Sally." He tucked the small envelope in his jacket pocket and nodded to the intern who'd handed it to him before moving down to his boss's office, "Yes?" He asked.

"Close the door, Billy." Sally motioned to the door and Billy swallowed hard, nodding. "Have a seat." She motioned to a vacant chair, moving to sit opposite him. "I think we have a problem." She murmured.

"A problem?" Billy echoed.

Sally nodded quickly, "Yes, something's wrong with Fitz."

Billy's eyes widened and his shoulders visibly dropped, "What do you mean?"

"He's acting like a man possessed, now I want to win this campaign just as much as the next gal, but this obsession of his is just borderline unhealthy. I need you to do me a favor." She requested.

"Anything, Sally." Billy waited patiently for her request.

"Take him out. Get Leo and Jake and just take the evening off. Go have a drink. Find out what's bothering him so much that he feels he has to drown himself in work. That's what he's doing, I can tell. He was happy and now he's not. It's as if he just ended a relationship or something. He's so down it has me worried." She admitted quietly.

Billy nodded, not having noticed a change in Fitz personally, but he was more than willing to pretend he had if it would please Sally, "Of course, I'll take care of it." He stood up, pausing with his hand on the door handle, he faced her, "We're so blessed to have a boss like you who cares about us." He sent her a wide grin that had her smiling in spite of herself.

"I'm the blessed one, Billy." She called back as the door swung shut behind him.

Heading into the break room, Billy found Leo quietly talking on his phone, "He says Jake has proof." He paused, "Well obviously it's a load of bullshit, but what can we do about it?" He nodded his head, "I don't think that will work." He scoffed, "Because I'm not going to be the one to go up against Jake. I mean he was former whatever scary guy who can kill me just by thinking about it and no way, not happening. You're on your own, babe." He cringed, "Yeah, I did just call you babe. Is that weird? It's weird isn't it?" He chuckled, "I'll see you both tonight and we'll come up with something." He hung up and tapped his fingers against the countertop, seemingly lost in thought. Billy took that moment to slowly back out of the room without being noticed. He did wonder who on earth Leo was talking to.

SCANDAL

"Don't be a pussy." Abby taunted, "Just talk to Jake. Or go snooping through his stuff."

"That's what we're planning on doing." Quinn piped up before taking a sip of her wine. "It's going to be awesome. We're going to out spy the spy." She giggled.

Leo stared at her, "You're an idiot too. There are so many idiots." He muttered.

"Oh please, it's not like Huck's going to hurt us or anything if we get caught." Abby scoffed. "Look, just try to find out what Jake knows. I want to know two things: why they got involved to begin with and what proof they have that Liv and Fitz were manipulating each other. That's it."

SCANDAL

With a tired sigh, Fitz threw his beaten up body onto the sofa. He'd spent nearly three hours at the gym running himself into the ground all because Sally sent him home far too early for his liking. It was weird sleeping without Olivia now. It was something he wasn't used to and he didn't know how to feel about it. He'd thought about going out in search of a one night stand, but the thought of actually being with another woman made his stomach churn. She wouldn't be Olivia. And that unsettled him more than anything.

Letting his eyes slip shut, he tried to think of anything, but her.

 _He groaned as her lips followed her hands in mapping out the contours of his chest. Her fingers flicked over his nipples and he tightened his grip on her waist, "Fuck."_

 _She chuckled against the hollow of his throat, her teeth scraping over his collar bones, "That's the idea." She murmured against his skin. He dipped his head down, his tongue flicking out over any patch of skin he could reach. She tasted like heaven and sin all at once. He could only imagine how good it would feel to be inside of her._

 _She let out a mewl as she rocked above him, coating him in her arousal. She was still slick from her first orgasm. She'd tasted amazing, sweet and tangy and he was anxious to feel her wrapped around him, "Fuck, Liv, you're so wet." He pressed himself up, latching onto her ear and tugging, "Going to feel so good." She let out a longer moan at his words as his lips moved down her throat._

" _Fitz, need you." She murmured._

 _Reaching between their sweat-slicked bodies, Fitz lined himself up at her entrance._

Fitz jerked awake at the incessant ringing noise by his head, "Fuck." He groaned, glancing down at his gym shorts. He was rock hard thanks to his very vivid dream of their first night together. "Damn it." He muttered, snatching his phone up, "What?"

" _I think I made a mistake."_

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	15. Chapter 15

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 _ **AN: Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful time ringing in 2016! We had lots of fun on our end. Here's to 2016! ~ XOXO MAS**_

* * *

 _But this love is brave and wild_

* * *

Fitz paused, feeling his throat constrict at Jake's words on the other end of the phone. He tightened his grip on the cell phone until his knuckles went white. After taking three deep breaths, he found his voice, "What kind of mistake?" Fitz asked slowly, his eyes on the door the Leo had just gone slamming through moment before.

"I don't think Olivia is the problem." Jake replied slowly. "Please just hear me out, I still think it's completely reckless that you're sleeping with her in the middle of a campaign when she's the opposition, but there's something else going on."

Fitz let out a long sigh, "What is going on?" He asked slowly.

"I found something in our office," Jake paused, "And I'm not quite sure what to make of it. It's either one of two things."

"What did you find?" Fitz nearly shouted, his impatience at Jake's cryptic answers finally starting to show.

"I found a flash drive with information from the Davis campaign on it." Jake answered quickly, sensing Fitz's mood changing. "So either someone from the Davis campaign planted it in our offices to make us look guilty or there's a mole in the Davis campaign handing information over to our campaign illegally."

"It's the latter." Fitz replied. "There's a mole and now Olivia and I aren't even speaking thanks to you and Huck and," Fitz growled, "Damn it, I have to call her." He hung up without waiting for anymore information, his fingers immediately flying over the keys of his phone to reach Olivia.

SCANDAL

Leaning forward on her coffee table, Olivia watched as the final drops of wine from the bottle splashed into her glass. She was seated on the floor, crisscross, a bowl of popcorn in her lap, a glass of wine in front of her (she was just finishing off the bottle), and the news playing in the background. She was planning on getting completely drunk in an attempt to forget Abby and Quinn's words and glares throughout the day. Not to mention the fact that they still didn't know who was leaking information to Sally's campaign.

The ringing of her phone behind her head on the sofa startled her. Reaching behind her, she used one hand to mute the news and the other to pick up her phone. She was surprised to see Fitz's name pop up and her thumb hovered between the green phone and the red phone on the screen, unsure if she should answer the call. Just as she decided maybe she should at least show some professional curtesy and answer, the call ended. Chewing on her lip, she let out a groan and tossed her phone deeper into the cushions before turning the news back up and downing half the glass of wine in one go.

SCANDAL

Fitz sighed as the ringing ceased and Olivia's voicemail finally picked up. He was sure that she had purposefully ignored his phone call. He debated picking up his car keys and driving over to her apartment, but glanced at the time he figured she was at least halfway through a bottle of wine and they'd only wind up fighting more. Instead he scrolled through his contacts and dialed someone else.

SCANDAL

"They're both being completely stupid." Leo continued to rant, "I can't believe he would just listen to Jake like that with no real proof." He shook his head and tossed another pillow on the floor. "Seriously, though, what is wrong with him?"

"It's more like what's wrong with _both_ of them?" Abby corrected, crawling up on the bed. "I just don't understand. If Huck called me and told me _you_ were the mole I wouldn't believe him without some hard proof."

Leo sent her a lecherous grin, "Want some _hard proof_?" He asked, climbing up next to her.

"Fuck, Leo, that's just gross and lame." She whined. He sent her a grin that told her he was up to no good. "Leo, what are you" She let out a squeal when he jerked on her legs, sending her flying onto her back, "Really?"

He nodded, "Really." He confirmed, hovering over her. "Now, I know I started the conversation about Olivia and Fitz and their idiocy, but I don't want to talk about them anymore."

She raised a brow at him, "Oh? Then what do you want to talk about?"

He leaned down to whisper in her ear, "I don't really want to talk. The only sounds I want to hear come out of your mouth are moans, my name and harder and faster."

Abby let out a chuckle that turned into a moan as his hand slid up under her skirt, "Fuck, Leo." She sighed. They let out simultaneous groans when her phone started ringing.

"Don't answer it." Leo begged.

Reaching over to the nightstand, Abby grabbed the phone to shut it off, but she noted it was Fitz, "It's Fitz."

Letting out a long groan of frustration, he nodded, "Go ahead." He sighed.

He flopped back with a groan as Abby answered, "What?"

" _She wasn't doing anything, I know that now, but there's still a mole in your office. We have to find out who it is." Fitz rattled off before Abby could hang up on him._

Abby waited until Fitz took a breath to respond, "Of course there's still a mole. Your silly fight with Olivia was always pointless. What's brought this on now?" Abby asked with a tired sigh.

" _The fact that Jake found a flash drive at our office with campaign information about your campaign. Clearly it was handed over and accidentally dropped." Fitz explained._

Abby's frown deepened. "Give the drive to Leo tomorrow. He can give it to me and I'll talk to Olivia. As long as she's still refusing to speak to you, then I'll show it to her and talk to her tomorrow." She acquiesced.

" _Thanks Abby." Fitz sighed, "I guess I bungled this one pretty badly." He admitted._

Letting out a long sigh, Abby agreed, "You did, but it wasn't just you. It was both of you."

" _Maybe. I'll let you get back to Leo. Thanks again, Abby."_

"No problem, Fitz." Hanging up, Abby tossed her phone back on the side table. "Tomorrow Fitz is going to give you a flash drive to give to me so I can give it to Olivia. It's got information from our campaign that was passed on from the mole."

"Will do. Now can we go back to not talking?" Leo requested, shoving her back lightly.

Letting out a soft giggle, Abby nodded, "Yeah."

SCANDAL

Jake paced the warehouse slowly as he fingered the flash drive.

"What am I doing here?"

Spinning, Jake crossed his arms, "Nice to see you, too, Huck." He greeted coolly.

"What am I doing here?" Huck repeated impatiently. "Olivia wouldn't like me meeting with you." He pointed out.

"I made you a copy of something. I figured you'd like to take a run at who downloaded the information." Jake held out the drive. "I'm starting to analyze every computer in our office to see if anything was downloaded from the flash drive."

Hesitantly, Huck accepted the black chip, "Why are you doing this?"

Jake sighed, "Because we can't win this way. Because Fitz wouldn't want to win this way. And because I owe it to him since I helped break him and Olivia up."

Pocketing the flash drive, Huck held out a hand, "Thank you. I'll see what I can find and maybe we can catch these guys." Jake studied his hand before finally shaking it, "And it was both of our faults, not just yours." He admitted.

"Well then, I guess it's time to make things right." Huck agreed. With a final nod, the two exited from different doors in the warehouse, going their separate waves, a silent promise to contact each other with any information they found made.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	16. Chapter 16

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 _And I never saw you coming, and I'll never be the same_

* * *

"Huck and Jake have both admitted their wrong." Abby chased Olivia around the football stadium in Athens. "Why can't you just talk to him?"

Olivia rolled her eyes and picked up a set of 'Davis for Senate' t-shirts, carrying them away from concession stand that was being set up with Sally's merchandise and to the other side, where Edison's was. "This isn't the time or place, Abby." Olivia tutted lightly.

Abby snorted, dodging a stadium worker with a broom, "It's never the time or place, just talk to me, please."

"Can we do this later?" Olivia requested, catching a shirt that almost fell off the top of the pile. "I still have a lot to do to set up for the rally tomorrow. There are going to be so many vets here, not to mention all the first responders and it's just insane."

"I would say yes to doing this later," Abby picked up a shirt that fell, "but you always seem to push it to later, now come on, Liv, just admit that you were both wrong and kiss and make up. And have lots of kinky sex. Please?"

Snorting, Olivia sighed when she was finally able to set the shirts down, "No, Abby. He didn't trust me. I can't be with him."

"Well you didn't trust him either." Her best friend accused sharply.

"Which is exactly why we shouldn't be together. We can't trust each other. How can we have any sort of real relationship?"

Abby groaned, slamming the shirts she'd picked up from the ground onto the concession stand counter, "You're infuriating. You're both infuriating!" Spinning on her heel, she started to storm off.

"Aren't you being a little melodramatic?" Olivia called out, only to be rewarded with Abby flicking her off. "Or a lot melodramatic." Olivia muttered under her breath before turning to the volunteer at the counter, "This is our stand, there's still stuff for Davis over at Sally's stand. Find some volunteers and have them help you." She glanced down at her watch, "Grab Harrison Wright if there are any other problems. I've got to head to the hotel for a meeting with Edison." She didn't wait for a response, she just took off sprinting down the corridor, already late for her meeting.

Harrison watched her sprint off from around the corner, a peach in his hand. He was fairly certain he now knew what Abby and Quinn had been freaking out about recently and what was prompting Huck to really delve into things with this leak. Tossing the pit of his peach out, he went hunting for Abby and Quinn. It was time to make those girls spill.

He found them sitting with Leo Bergen from the Langston campaign. They were holed up in one of the sky boxes trying to stay out of sight. "Jake's going through the computers to see if he can figure out who maybe downloaded the information from the flash drive. If it was downloaded at all."

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked.

"Whoever dropped it probably didn't save a back-up on our computers. It'll be on a personal computer." Leo explained.

"So, in other words, you won't have anything." Abby snapped.

"And what do you have, Red?" He asked teasingly.

"Huck is going through the computers at the office to see who accessed the files they shouldn't." Abby snipped.

"Except they probably used someone else's username and password." Harrison piped up from the doorway. "So, Olivia and Fitz were sleeping together and because of Jake and Huck's searches they broke up and now you all are hunting for the leak and trying to get them back together." He was met by three deer in headlights stares. "How am I doing so far?"

"How the hell did you figure it out?" Quinn asked with a sigh.

"You five aren't exactly super spies." Harrison quipped. Grinning as Abby glared at him and stuck out her tongue, "So, Fitz and Olivia were banging. That explains why she was so happy. Now they're not. That explains why she's so touchy about _everything_." He pulled up a chair to the table they were seated around, "So, the question is, how do we get them back together?"

Abby sighed, "We can't. Olivia is determined that they stay apart, particularly since they didn't trust each other and let Huck and Jake break them up. So she's determined to stay away from him. Something about healthy relationships or real relationships or I don't know. I stopped listening. She was being stubborn and stupid." Abby waved her hand absently.

"Well, if we find out who the leak is, that could be a step in the right direction." Leo reminded Abby.

"But we don't know how to do that." Quinn reminded him, "We don't have any leads."

"Well, it has to be someone from the main campaign, it's not a staffer somewhere random. And it's probably not a volunteer." Harrison reasoned, "He or she has to be either an intern or someone on the paid staff. Probably a paid staffer, they're the most involved, would have the most access, and would know how to get to our secrets. We keep our volunteers in the dark about the most important things."

"So that narrows the list down considerably." Abby agreed.

"And it's probably the same type of person on our end. I mean, volunteers wouldn't be able to actually _use_ the information we're getting anyhow."

"So, let's pool our lists, pull Jake off of what he's doing and start running comprehensive background checks on everyone." Harrison took control of the situation. "What he's doing isn't going to lead anywhere, what Huck's doing will at least tell us whose login information has been compromised. What information is being handed over is only accessible by Olivia, the three of us, Huck and Davis himself."

"I'll tell Jake what he's going to start doing." Leo volunteered, "He doesn't scare me too much."

"And once we have a list of possible suspects, we'll start tracking them old school." Harrison continued, "See if there are any secret meetings we should know about. Of course we can rule ourselves out, and Fitz and Olivia."

"Doesn't matter, anyhow." Abby grumbled, "They're not seeing each other anymore now."

"Don't worry," Harrison assured her, "once we get this business sorted out, I'm sure we can help them find their way back to each other."

SCANDAL

Olivia adjusted her 'Davis for Senate' button and tucked her t-shirt into her shorts. It was hot and she was tired of the damn humidity in the South. And most importantly, she was tired of working events where Davis and Langston had to be milling about together. She'd already seen Fitz six times and every time she was sure her heart broke just a little bit more. They were only an hour into the big community gathering, hosted by UGA, and she was ready to curl up on her sofa with a bottle of wine and cry.

The feeling of loss was so much harder than she imagined it being. It made her wonder if Abby was somehow right, if she was being stubborn and stupid and just plain untrusting because it was easier. And in a way, it was easier. She wasn't worried about her heart being broken because she'd gone and done it herself.

She frowned as she settled back in one of the stadium chairs, appearing to the rest of the crowd to simply be observing. When she thought about having broken her own heart to save it from being broken, she realized she was acting like an idiot. She would be far better off if she just let Fitz potentially break her heart.

Then again, he kind of had. By not trusting her that had hurt. On the other hand, she hadn't trusted him either. Letting out a groan, her head fell to her hands.

"It was Abby's login that was compromised." Huck sat down next to her, handing her a bottle of water. "Drink this or you'll get dehydrated and your headache will be worse." He dug in his pocket, pulling out a little baggie with aspirin in it. "And take these." He instructed. "It may help, but all this thinking your doing is what's causing it."

She swallowed the pills and downed half the water, "Thanks, Huck." Screwing the cap back on the bottle she looked up, "So, what about Abby's login?"

"That's how the leak got the files. Either he or she knew Abby was sleeping with Leo and used her because she'd be a good scapegoat, or Abby's was just the only login info she could get her hands on." Huck explained.

"These people are smart. It's probably the former." Olivia muttered.

"Not too smart," Huck reminded her, "we know they're out there."

"But we can't catch them." She muttered.

"Harrison found everything out. He's got some good ideas. Jake is doing a thorough background check on all paid employees. We'll find them, Liv. In the meantime, try not to worry so much." He patted her shoulder and stood, "And sorry again for"

"Don't!" Olivia held up a hand, "We clearly didn't trust each other if it only took you and Jake to break us up." She murmured. Huck didn't respond, instead he just nodded sadly and left her alone. At least Harrison was involved now. Perhaps he could give a fresh perspective on the problems at hand.

SCANDAL

Fitz watched from the fifty yard line as Olivia attempted to give Huck a smile before she was left alone again. He wasn't sure what hurt worse, his hurt at being alone, or knowing that Olivia was hurting so badly.

"You know, you could apologize." Leo came up behind him. "I mean, one of you will have to go first."

Fitz scratched his head, adjusting his Langston baseball cap, "Let it be her."

Leo snorted, "Well, we all know you don't mean that." Fitz grunted at his words. "Just think about how much better you'll feel once the two of you are talking again." With a pat on the back, Leo left Fitz moping on the field, staring up at Olivia.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	17. Chapter 17

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 _This is a state of grace_

* * *

Olivia came to a skidding halt in the bathroom of the W in downtown Atlanta. She felt like she'd been running around like a chicken with her head cut off all day. Everything that could've gone wrong had. The centerpieces weren't what she ordered. There weren't enough place settings at the tables. They somehow lost her liquor order (seriously, what were people supposed to drink?). They'd put her tablecloths on the tables at the function in the other dining room. Her seating chart mysteriously went missing this morning. Then, to top it all off, some idiot had thrown a brick through the front window of their headquarters, sending her flying back to the office in the midst of all of the disasters at the hotel. Now she wasn't even going to have time to properly get ready for the donor event tonight. With a growl, she slammed the bathroom stall shut and tugged her Davis for Senate t-shirt over her head, shimming out of her jeans and toeing off her tennis shoes in the process. Quickly, she switched bras and stepped into her dress. Snatching up her pumps, she slid them on before shoving her old clothes into the small bag and slamming her way back out of the stall to the mirror.

She grimaced at her reflection. She hadn't been getting enough sleep. It had been bad before the event in Athens at the UGA stadium. Now it was even worse. Seeing Fitz only made her feel worse. When he was in the room, he was all she could see, all she could focus on. _When the hell did I go and fall in love with this guy?_ She wondered as she forced her hair up into a low, loose updo before pulling out her make-up bag and darkening her eyes. With a resigned sigh, she added some perfume and deodorant, switching out her earrings before deciding that she was as good as she was going to get. All she needed was a glass of wine and her _very_ frazzled nerves should smooth right out. And just in time, too. The Governor would be at their event, endorsing Edison for Senate.

When she came out of the bathroom, she crashed straight into Huck, "Liv, there you are." He murmured.

"Yeah, I just need to toss this in my car. Then I'm so running late." She prattled off.

"I'll put this in there for you." He held out his hand, "Just give me your keys, then you need to know what I've found out."

"Whatever it is, Huck, it can wait." She assured him. "Edison is in there and I'm not and that's a huge problem, particularly when the Governor is due to arrive any minute."

"No, Liv, I think I" he caught her keys in mid-air, sighing when she walked away, "figured out how to find the leak." He muttered as she darted off in the direction of the ballrooms. "Not that anyone else seems to care anymore. I mean what does the election matter if we just hand it over to Sally?" He glanced up when the lobby doors banged open. His eyes landed on a frantically running Abby, Quinn and Harrison.

"We're so late, Liv is going to be so pissed." Quinn's voice bounced around the large lobby of the hotel.

"No shit, Edison was here alone for the start of the cocktail hour." Abby muttered as she tugged on a heel. "I can't believe I had to get dressed in the car while Harrison was driving."

"At least you weren't driving while you were dressing." Harrison grumbled, looping his tie into place. "I told you we should've hired a cab and"

"This is not _27 Dresses_ and I am not having a skeevy cab driver staring at my ass while I change." Abby snapped. "Okay, thirty second pause." She grabbed both of their wrists. "Quinn, hold still." She tugged at the straps of Quinn's dress. "Okay, you're good." She faced Harrison, adjusting his tie, "You're good, too. Me?"

Quinn adjusted the belt on her friend's dress. "You're good, too. Now let's go, our thirty seconds are up."

With a shake of his head, Huck tossed Olivia's bag over his shoulder, prepared to go put it in her car and then go put his plan into place without anyone's approval. On his way out the door, he ran into Jake. "Oh, hey, man."

Jake nodded down at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Donor event. I was trying to catch Liv, but things have been crazy." Huck explained, shifting from foot-to-foot awkwardly.

Jake's brows pulled together, "You guys have a donor even here, too?" At Huck's nod, Jake continued, "So do we. It must be your tablecloths that had Fitz freaking out."

Huck frowned, "Tablecloths?" He asked.

Jake nodded, "Yeah, I stopped by to try to give Fitz some news, but he was too busy panicking because they couldn't find the deep red tablecloths Sally had chosen for the event. Instead they had some dark blue ones."

"You mean to tell me that Davis and Langston both have donor dinners in the same hotel on the same night?" Huck asked. "How the hell did that happen?"

"Well, we were supposed to be at the Ritz, but something happened with our reservation and this was the only place Fitz could find on such short notice." Jake explained.

"When did this happen?" Huck asked quickly.

"Last week. It was a pain to get the notice out to all the donors. Good thing the hotels are near each other, otherwise that could've affected people's plans earlier in the day." Jake admitted.

Huck suppressed a groan, "You don't think it's odd that you wound up at the same hotel we did on the same night?" He asked slowly, "You don't think that maybe someone _planned_ it that way?"

Jake stared at Huck for a moment, "Oh, I guess it could've happened that way." He consented.

"I need those background checks you ran. You probably missed something obvious." He snapped, turning and stalking back towards the lobby door.

"Wow, nice talking to you too, Huck." Jake grumbled with a shake of his head, moving towards the ballroom where Langston's donor dinner was taking place.

SCANDAL

Moving back towards the bar, Abby slipped her phone out of her clutch and shot a text to Leo. _So bored. Hate donor dinners. Tonight? Your place?_

It was a few minutes before Leo texted back. _Definitely. What are you wearing?_

With a fond shake of her head, Abby replied: _A surprise. You can take it off me tonight. How's the Ritz?_

 _Didn't you hear? We got moved to the W. Where are you? Maybe we can both sneak out and meet up early. Fitz is too busy freaking out about Gov being at your event._

Abby's eyes darted around. She wasn't sure Olivia knew what the other event was that was taking place in the ballroom just around the corridor corner.

 _W lobby. 10 minutes._

Looking around, Abby spotted Quinn and Harrison talking to a donor. Sliding up to them, she plastered on a sweet smile, "I'm sorry, but do you mind if I borrow these two? Catering crisis."

The donor nodded, turning away. "Please don't tell me we have another problem." Quinn begged.

"We have another problem." Abby replied, "Did you know that the other event happening just down the hall is the _Langston_ Donor Dinner?"

Harrison frowned, "How the hell did that happen? I thought Leo said they were at the Ritz?"

"I'm going to meet Leo in the lobby. I have no idea what happened, but what do you want to bet it's not a coincidence. Particularly that they ended up here and that we had all those problems today. I mean missing seating charts? Tablecloths being misplaced? Our centerpieces being wrong? The liquor fiasco? And then to top it all off, the brick going flying through our office window? That just spells conspiracy with a capital C."

"Let's go see what Leo has to say before we start throwing out possible ideas or pointing fingers." Harrison suggested, leading the two women out the door.

Olivia watched with a small frown as Abby, Harrison and Quinn all slipped out the side door of the ballroom. They still had another thirty-five minutes before dinner. With a swift goodbye to the Governor, she followed them out.

She was just rounding the corner towards the lobby when she ran into a hard plane. "Oh, sorry!"

"No it was my fault."

Looking up at the deep voice, Olivia swallowed hard, "Fitz." She whispered.

He looked down at her curiously, "Olivia? What are you doing here?"

"Donor dinner." She pointed around the corner towards the ballroom she'd escaped from. "What are you doing here? I thought you guys had a dinner at the Ritz?"

"Reservation mix-up, this was the only place we could find that could house everyone." He answered. "Wait, we both have donor dinners on the same night?" He asked, "At the same hotel? How did that happen?"

Olivia sighed, "The leak. That's how that happened. And that explains our tablecloths and centerpieces and my seating chart and the liquor."

"Wait, those blue tablecloths were yours?" He shook his head, "I should've figured all of this out sooner, but things have been so crazy and"

"And distracting." Olivia finished.

He smiled softly down at her, "Yeah, distracting." He agreed.

"So," she stepped back to put a bit of space between them, "you're ditching your own donor dinner? Seems like bad form." She teased.

"Leo snuck out, I was trying to see where he was going to." Fitz admitted, "I was trying to stalk, but failing miserably. I'd have been a terrible spy."

Olivia chuckled, "Well, my guess is he's meeting Abby, Harrison and Quinn. They just snuck out of our dinner. Want to follow them?"

"Fuck yes." Fitz agreed, absently taking her wrist to pull her towards the lobby.

They came to a screeching halt when they heard a voice. "Closet!" Olivia whispered, flipping them so she could grab his hand and tug him inside.

Reaching up, Fitz found the string attached the light, pulling it so they weren't standing in the dark. They were in a janitor's closet, surrounded by mops and brooms and metal shelving with cleaning supplies. Quietly, they both pressed up against the thick wooden door so they could hear what was being said.

" _Is anyone suspicious?"_

" _No, I don't think I'm even noticed."_

" _Perfect, and great job with the seating chart. I saw Olivia Pope, she was positively spinning."_

" _The brick was a nice touch too." There was a pause and what sounded like a smacking of lips._

" _I'll see you at home. Love you."_

" _Love you, too."_

When there was silence on the other side again, Fitz let out a low growl, "Damn it that was Billy Chambers. Do you know who the girl was?"

Olivia was already shaking her head, "No, I'm not sure, but you better believe I'll find out." She was breathing a bit harder, frustration ebbing away at her at being so easily played by a little weasel like Billy. She swallowed hard when she realized just how close Fitz was to her, his lips hovering just above hers. If she rocked up on her toes she could even. . . "Fitz." She murmured softly.

"Don't think about it." He ordered, crushing her into his chest. She mewled against his mouth, her hands shoving at his coat, desperate to feel some part of him. It'd been too long. And she was hot, she just wanted to feel, to not think anymore.

She jerked at his tie, pulling it loose before starting to work on the buttons of his shirt. She felt his hand hesitate at the zipper on the back of her dress, "Livie?" He asked quietly.

"Don't think about it." She parroted back his words, letting out a moan when she heard her zipper slide open and felt his hands splay across her back.

They stumbled in the small space for a moment before his hips were finally hanging loosely over his hips, his cock bobbing against his stomach and her dress had fallen to the floor. He spun her around and kicked her feet apart. She braced herself against the door on her hands, rocking her hips back, inviting him to sink into her warmth. When he finally did, she let out a moan, "Fuck, Livie, so tight." He groaned, pulling back and snapping back in.

She let out another moan, "Harder." She ordered, her moans doubling when his hand snaked around to find her clit, pressing hard circles on the little nub until she was a quaking mess in his arms, sighing out a broken form of his name as she came. A few thrusts later and he was groaning her name, falling across her sweaty back.

When he felt himself soften, he pulled out, "Liv?" He asked hesitantly.

She turned slowly, reaching down to pick her dress and panties up. "I know, Fitz." She closed her eyes and pressed her palm to her forehead. "Shit, I have to go. The dinner will be starting soon and Edison has to speak and shit, I have to go."

"Olivia, we have to talk about this." He protested, sighing in resignation when she wrenched her wrist from his grasp.

"I know and we will, just not tonight." Zipping up her dress, she fled from the room, leaving him alone to clean up and get re-dressed before going back to his own donor dinner.

Olivia slid into her seat next to Abby a moment later. "You're missing an earring." Abby whispered in her ear.

"Damn it." Olivia tugged the gold earring out of her left ear, shoving it in her purse, "Whoever it is on our end, she's a woman and she's feeding the information to Chambers." Olivia whispered as the Governor rose to speak.

Abby turned to stare at her, "How do you know that?"

"I'll explain later." She replied, clapping, "For now, let's just try to get through the rest of the night with no other disasters."

SCANDAL

Fitz took his seat next to Leo, "Where the hell were you?" Leo asked in a whispered voice.

"Finding out that Chambers is the one getting the information on our end. It's a woman from the Davis campaign he's getting it from. I don't know who she is." He whispered.

"How did you find that out?"

"Not important." Fitz replied, clapping as Sally rose to speak to the donors.

Billy watched from across the table as Leo and Fitz whispered quietly to one another. Something was up with them, and he needed to find out what.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	18. Chapter 18

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

 _ **AN: *Sheepish wave at everyone* Hi, I'm not dead and I haven't forgotten about everyone in this universe, even though it appears that I have. Life has been crazy. My fiancé works in politics, so he's been traveling like crazy with all the campaign really taking off and Iowa wrapping up and turning into New Hampshire (crazy important times here in America right now and I'm proud of what he does to try to help our country even if it means he leaves me home alone with six animals (of which most are his fault, not mine)). Also my travel schedule just started up again and I haven't quite found my groove yet. Anyhow, I am here and I am trying to get back into the swing of things. I won't make any promises about the regularity of my updates until I have a firm grasp of things, but I swear I'm not dropping anything! I hope the updates are worth it even if they're not as regular as they were! Thank you to everyone who reads and reviews. It's really appreciated and it warms my heart. Enjoy chapter 18! ~ XOXO MAS**_

* * *

 _This is a worthwhile fight_

* * *

" _The campaign is on lockdown."_

"Lockdown? Do they have anything on you?" Billy asked worriedly.

" _Not yet, but something is up. I'm just not sure what it is, yet."_

"Whatever it is, it happened at the donor event last night. Leo and Fitz have been attached at the hip all day and no one has seen Jake." Billy sighed, his eyes widened when he saw Leo and Fitz turning down the hallway, "Shit, I've got to go." He hung up his phone quickly, tucking it in his pocket. "Hey guys, what's up?" He asked as Leo and Fitz passed by him. They were deep in conversation and didn't even notice him, both leaving and getting into Fitz's car. "Fuck." Billy muttered. Whatever was up, Billy had the distinct impression that they were onto him. He had to find out what they knew and start damage control.

He had a plan that would ruin Edison long enough that he'd lose the election. Afterwards, of course, people would find out it was a lie, but on Election Day the voters would think it was true. By the time they found out they'd been fooled it would be too late. Sally would Senator and one step closer to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And if all went according to plan, he would be by her side as Chief of Staff.

He caught Sally's arm, "Yes, Billy? Is everything alright?"

"Would you be okay if I stepped out for a few minutes?" He asked quickly.

She shook her head, "Not right now. Fitz and Leo had to run an errand. Then they're going to go pick some things up for me. More literature that was printed. Can it wait?"

With a sigh of resignation, Billy watched as Leo's car tore out of the parking lot and onto the highway, "Yeah, it can wait." He knew there was no way he'd catch up with them now.

SCANDAL

When Fitz and Leo pulled up to the warehouse in a rough part of Atlanta, they found everyone else already sitting inside. There was a tense silence among the group as they joined them, "What have you guys found?" Fitz asked, pulling up a chair next to Jake. He found no reason to dawdle in this meeting. He'd get the information he needed and get out. If he were around Olivia for too long he'd start to think that the night before meant something to her. By the way she ran out and then escaped the hotel without seeing him and ignored his phone calls, he was convinced it didn't. As if to prove that point, she refused to make eye contact with him.

"The connection." Huck passed around a set of files. "There's one person on our campaign who I believe is connected to Chambers."

"Who?" Leo asked, flipping the file open.

"Amanda Tanner." Huck replied. "They were both in New York City at the same time." He pointed to their flight history.

"That's when we were in New York." Fitz pointed out.

"We know." Jake muttered, still not comfortable with Olivia and Fitz's relationship, but not voicing his opinion. "Anyhow, we managed to connect them through burner phones and surveillance photos. We've got them meeting in secret fairly often." He passed around another file.

Silently, the group sifted through the information Huck and Jake had supplied them, "What do we do now?" Abby asked.

Olivia snorted, "We fill Edison in on what we've been investigating." She stood up, tucking the folder into her bag, "I want Amanda's passcodes changed and her completely removed from our office by the end of the day." She ordered sharply, "I need to go meet with Edison now. Huck, make sure you have back ups of everything." She turned to face Fitz, "Handle Billy however you see fit."

When the door slammed shut behind her, Leo let out a long whistle, "Wow, talk about the Ice Queen."

Abby punched his arm, "Not nice." She chastised lightly. He just shrugged in response.

"I need to go talk to Sally." Fitz tucked the files under his arm, "Leo?"

"I'll go grab the stuff for Sally. Jake, drive me?" Leo requested. Fitz gave an approving nod and a wave goodbye, leaving the group behind. When the door slammed shut again, Leo faced everyone, "Okay, this has to be fixed. You two fucked them up majorly." He accused, pointing to Huck and Jake.

"Seriously, Leo's right. We need to make them see that they're perfect for each other. Besides, these campaigns are just a job. It's not like either one of them really believes in the candidates. They're just working for them."

Jake rolled his eyes, "You guys aren't at all worried about their reputations?" He snapped.

"No, not really." Quinn replied, "God, you're annoying." She nudged Abby's calf with her foot, "What do you think? Should we meddle?"

"No." Harrison replied.

"Yes." Abby countered.

"Absolutely not." Huck agreed with Harrison.

"Absolutely!" Leo shouted over Harrison.

"Not even a little bit." Jake disagreed.

"That's a tie." Quinn pointed out.

"Which means we win." Abby tapped her fingers against her files, "We should set them up on a blind date."

"A tie means no one wins, Abby." Harrison let out an exasperated sigh.

She rolled her eyes, "I always win and I want to set them up on a blind date. Who's with me?"

Leo and Quinn raised their hands. Groaning, Harrison reluctantly raised his hand, "If you can't beat them, join them."

Jake snorted, "You were one of those kids who caved to peer pressure in the school yard, weren't you?"

"And what were you? A bully who forced people to cave to peer pressure?" Harrison shot back.

"I'm not involved." Jake stood, "Leo, if we're errand running for Sally, we're leaving now."

"Fine, I'm coming because she needs those pamphlets, but I'm in. Tell me what I can do and I'll get Fitz there." Leo agreed, leaning down to brush a kiss across Abby's brow. "See you tonight."

"I fill you in then!" Abby called out as he and Jake left. When the door shut again, she said, "Okay, here's what we need to do." Leaning forward she quickly filled them in on her plan.

"That is so stupid." Huck stated flatly.

"Fine, then keep your mouth shut and don't participate." Abby ordered. "In the meantime, Harrison, get the restaurant prepped. Quinn,"

"I know, go through Olivia's closet and find an outfit and find a guy on Facebook who we can pretend is the guy to show her." Quinn Interrupted.

"Great, I'll get Leo going on his end and I'll get Olivia to the restaurant." She stood up and stepped away from the chairs. When no one moved, she snapped, "Let's go people, we've got work to do." Quinn and Harrison nearly fell out of their chairs to follow her. Huck just rolled his eyes and collected his files, following them out the door.

SCANDAL

Olivia shut Edison's door with a click and silently set the files in front of him before taking a seat across from him. "Olivia?" He asked.

She just motioned to the files. She watched as he read through them quietly, "I've had suspicions, but no confirmations or names until now." Edison's face was set in a grim expression, "You should know that the Langston camp is now aware this is happening. I believe they will handle Chambers appropriately and"

"Call a meeting with Sally. Quietly. I don't want this leaked to the media until we're ahead of it and I don't want Chambers and Tanner to know about it." Edison ordered.

"I'll get it done today so that Amanda is gone by the end of the day." Olivia nodded.

"Good." Edison shut the folder, "And Olivia?" She hummed and turned, her hand on the doorknob, "Thank you."

"Of course, Edison." When she was out in the hallway, she shot Fitz a text, requesting a meeting back at the warehouse in two hours.

"Liv, there you are." Abby came skidding around the corner, "I just had the most brilliant idea."

Olivia was typing a response to Fitz's affirmation of the meeting on her phone and sighed, "If it involves your gun, Abs, the answer is no."

Abby scoffed, "I don't _always_ respond with violence." She protested. "Just when necessary. And this is about you."

Tucking the phone into her back pocket, Olivia sighed, "What about me?"

"You need to get over Fitz. I mean if you're not going to be with him you should go fuck another guy. You're hot. Have some fun." Abby grinned lecherously at her.

"Who the hell am I going to meet, Ab? I don't have time to date. I work all the time and"

"And I'm not talking about dating. I'm talking about a nice dinner and then a nice _fucking_." Abby clarified.

With a roll of her eyes, Olivia replied, "The question still stands, who the hell am I going to fuck? I don't have time to find someone and"

"I have just the guy. He's not in politics, I met him when I was meeting Leo before we got serious. I didn't screw him, so not gross, but I do have his number and I think a blind date with a happy ending would be just what you need to clear your head and get you focused back on the game." Abby explained.

"You're so gross." Olivia muttered. She turned to walk away, but paused. Abby was probably right. Everything with Fitz was distracting her. Still, she wasn't sure a random stranger would do it for her when Fitz could make her burn with just a look. She was certain no one else could, then again, maybe she was wrong. Maybe she was obsessing over Fitz when she should just move on and let it go. "Okay," she nodded after a moment of hesitation, "set it up for tonight. On the later side, I'm not sure what exactly we're walking into right now."

"You got it, Liv." When she was gone, Abby let out a small squeal and pulled her phone out, threatening Leo that he better do a good job because Olivia was on board.

SCANDAL

"I don't have time for this right now, Leo. Sally is seriously pissed off and I've had to basically chain her to her desk and lock Billy out to keep her from stabbing her with a letter opener. I can't talk about a blind date or whatever. Besides, Olivia"

"Doesn't' want to see you." Leo interrupted. "Abby said she's done and what happened at the donor dinner was a mistake. She's looking to move on. She's even got a date with some guy named Alex. Don't you think it's time you tried to work her out of your system? I mean we are seriously fucked when all of this comes out. Sally's going to look like the she-devil and Edison is going to look like a guy who tried to do something nice, got screwed over and then came out on top as Senator. We need you to focus so Sally doesn't lose the election. So, go fuck this girl. Her name is Susan, she's hot, she's funny, she's smart, she's a teacher. Just screw her and get it over with."

Fitz stared at his friend blankly for a moment. Leo was convinced that Fitz was going to roll his eyes and walk away, but instead he nodded, "Sure, fuck it. I could use some fun. Set it up for tonight, but for later. God only knows how long Davis will drag this out for."

SCANDAL

Olivia tapped her foot impatiently as they waited for the Langston camp to show up. She checked her watch, mentally thinking about what all she had to do before her blind date tonight. "They're late." She grumbled.

"They'll be here." Abby cut in. "Try to relax a little bit."

"Relaxing is a bit hard when they're campaign has screwed you." Edison agreed with Olivia, pacing back and forth, "I mean honestly, punctuality is important in a Senator and"

"And I am right on time, Mr. Davis." Sally's heels clacking on the cement floor echoed around them, "Now, please tell me how in the hell this happened?"

Fitz sighed, "I already told you we don't know, Sally, but we need to fix this problem before something happens and you're forced to step down. This could ruin your career."

"Or it could simply ruin Edison's bid for office. I did not have any knowledge of what was happening."

"But we were using the information Billy brought us." Leo reminded her. "We've been through this, Sally. We have to fire him and make a public apology."

"I don't see why any of this has to be public." Edison compromised, "I'm a reasonable man. As long as I see proof that he's no longer working on your campaign, then I believe we can move on amicably and finish this election clean."

Sally held out her hand, "You have my word."

Edison shook it, "Very good then." He turned, "Now, I want Amanda out of our office within thirty minutes of us returning."

"The same goes for Billy." Sally agreed.

SCANDAL

Olivia let Edison fire Amanda, quietly telling her that he knew she'd been trading secrets with Chambers in the Langston camp, but he wouldn't press charges if she left quietly. Huck escorted her off the property, reminding her of her confidentiality agreement and allowing Harrison to quietly promise to ruin her life should anything else happen to damage Davis' bid for the Senate seat.

This left Olivia to head back to her apartment with Quinn and Abby (Quinn had already broken in and picked out an outfit for her) so she could get ready for her date. Olivia was trying her best to look forward to the night. Alex sounded nice and he seemed successful if his online presence was any indication. Nice, successful, normal and not involved in politics.

Her gut was telling her that something would be missing, though. And she hated ignoring her gut. Still, she drank a glass of wine, curled her hair, traded her Davis for Senate shirt for a tight fitting black leather dress that left little to the imagination and headed out with encouraging smiles from Abby and Quinn.

SCANDAL

Fitz handed off his keys to the valet at the Plaza where he was meeting Susan for drinks. Based on the pictures Leo had showed him, she seemed like a fun girl. Slipping into his suit coat, Fitz sighed. He had a bad feeling about this. His mind flashed over to every time he followed one of Leo's plans. They always ended poorly for him, and yet he continued to follow through with them. It made him wonder about his own judgment.

Fitz stopped short when he reached the bar. He didn't see Susan sitting anywhere, but he did see Olivia, perched on the edge of a bar stool, a glass of wine in hand, her eyes wide as they connected with his.

He was going to murder Leo.

Based on the look on her face, she had no idea he would be there. Abby better run as well.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	19. Chapter 19

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 _Love is a ruthless game unless you play it good and right_

* * *

With a sigh of resignation, Fitz slowly approached Olivia. He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it, "Motherfucking Abby and Leo. I'm going to kill them. And Harrison and Quinn because you know they helped. Manipulative little bastards, the entire lot of them."

Fitz chuckled and motioned to the empty bar stool next to her, "Since I'm assuming you don't have a date actually coming, mind if I sit down?"

Olivia tugged her bottom lip into her mouth as she considered him and the implications of him sitting there at a bar with her. After a moment she nodded, she knew they needed to at least discuss what had already happened between them so they could put a stop to their friends' shenanigans in the future, "Why not? We both deserve a drink after they day we had anyhow." And that was the truth. While they'd made progress by firing Amanda and Billy, she knew they were in no way actually done with them. Amanda maybe, but Billy was not going anywhere and they all knew it.

"How did Amanda take being fired?" Fitz asked as he pulled the stool out and sat down, keeping a respectable amount of distance between them. He knew that if he rushed Olivia she'd go flying in the other direction and he would never at least be able to be friends.

"Not too well, but I think Harrison and Huck put the fear of God in her." Olivia replied, flagging down the bartender so Fitz could order a glass of scotch. "How was Billy?"

"Livid." Fitz replied. "Jake had to drag him out. He was screaming about being set up and shit."

"You know that's not the last we've heard of him. Of both of them likely." Olivia murmured.

"Oh, I'm sure Billy's got something up his sleeve that I'm not going to like." Fitz agreed.

"That we're all not going to like." Olivia corrected, "It's going to target Edison."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Fitz sighed.

They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, neither knowing exactly what to say to the other. Instead they chose to stare into their glasses, both shifting awkwardly on their bar stools.

"Fitz -"

"Olivia -"

They both chuckled when they chose to speak at the same time. "Go ahead, Fitz." Olivia murmured, tucking a curl behind her ear.

"No, by all means, ladies first." Fitz flashed her a dimpled grin and she sighed. That damn smile of his didn't help clear her mind. And it certainly didn't make what she had to say and do any easier.

"I'm really sorry about the donor dinner." She apologized after another moment of contemplation.

"Sorry that we had sex in a closet or sorry that you ran?" He asked. He was so serious and there was a twinge of hurt in his tone he was trying to hide. She had no idea how, but Olivia knew she had to somehow make up for her actions, otherwise they would wind up being hostile towards each other and that wouldn't bode well for future jobs.

She chewed on her lip a bit more, aware that she was going to gnaw a hole in it if she wasn't careful, "I'm not sure." She admitted honestly, "I mean, definitely sorry I ran, that was incredibly cold and mean, but" she chanced a glance at him, "we're not together anymore, Fitz." She reminded him.

He nodded, "I know that, Olivia, but sometimes I think that maybe we reacted too quickly, that we were just so angry and we should've fought for what we had instead of just giving up. Nothing in life comes easily, things, particularly good ones, you have to fight for them."

She snorted, "Everything about the way we transpired was too quickly."

He was already shaking his head, "You made me work for it a bit." He reminded her of the very early days when he would see her at events and just _want_ and she'd just shake her head and walk away with those damn swaying hips of hers.

She laughed lightly, "That was fun." At his questioning brow, she clarified, "Watching you squirm. I very much enjoyed that."

He leaned closer to her, whispering in her ear, "Until I made _you_ squirm."

She sucked in a breath at his close proximity and his words, " _Fitz_." She warned.

He moved away and took a sip of his scotch with a sigh, "I know, I know, we're not together anymore." His eyes darkened with regret and sadness, "For the record, Liv, I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry for believing Jake. I thought when I got back to town he would have something to show me, some proof that I was an idiot and you'd been trying to play me. He didn't, of course, because you wouldn't do that. You couldn't hurt me like that, but then I was too prideful to admit I was wrong and you were so angry with me for believing him. And I don't blame you for that. I'm sorry I believed Jake, but I'm even more sorry for letting you walk out that hotel room door. I should've run after you, I should've chased you down and not let you get on that plane."

"I wasn't made at you for believing Jake." She whispered. She said it so softly, he barely heard her. Her gaze flicked up to him, "I was mad at myself for walking out on you, for believing Huck so blindly." She swallowed hard, "It was never about you, Fitz. It was honestly all about me and I don't mean it in that cliché way that people use when they want to break up with someone."

He pulled her bar stool closer to his, carding a hand through her hair, "Livie," he murmured, "forget about what happened, forget about Huck and Jake and the election."

She shook her head, "We can't."

He gave one of her curls a slight tug before tipping her head back and slanting his mouth over hers, lips just hovering as he breathed out, "We can." She let out a little strangled mewl and he took that as a signal to finally kiss her.

She felt like she was melting. His lips were soft, but firm against hers. The kiss was slow, but insistent and she found herself simply falling into him. It was like coming up for air for the first time in weeks. When he pulled back, she murmured, "Take me home, Fitz?"

He nudged his nose against hers, already reaching for his wallet, "You're sure, Olivia?" She nodded, "I can't do the closet at the donor dinner again." He warned, "I won't play games with you."

She reached up, her fingers slipping through his curls as she brought his lips down for a slow, sweet kiss, "No games." She agreed softly.

SCANDAL

"I have a bad feeling about this." Harrison admitted.

Abby poured herself another glass of wine, "I don't. They're so going to fuck."

"But then what?" Quinn asked. "I mean, what happens if they run after that? What if that breaks them more? Maybe this was a really bad idea and we shouldn't have"

"If you go soft on me, Perkins, I'll smack you." Abby threatened. "Now, man up, this is going to work."

"It's totally going to work. Olitz is so getting back together." Leo nodded with a wide grin.

The room stared at him silently, "I'm sorry, but did you just celebrity nickname them?" Abby asked.

"I think I'm losing brain cells by being in this room." Harrison murmured.

"I know I am." Jake agreed, Huck nodding along silently with him.

"That's corny even for you, Leo." Quinn admonished.

Abby considered him carefully, "I like it." She decided, "They're Olitz." She repeated. "Olitz," she hummed, "that's good babe. We could market them like that." She closed her eyes as she thought, "Imagine us all working on campaigns together. The candidates would be unstoppable. We could fix any problem, decimate the competition and charge a fortune. Olitz will be unstoppable. Can you imagine them opening up a firm together?"

"And calling it Olitz?" Harrison scoffed, "Please, no one would take _that_ seriously."

Abby shook her head, "Of course they wouldn't call it Olitz. They'd call it something else, like Grant, Pope & Associates." She hummed again, "I like it. The fixers everyone goes to."

"That's actually brilliant." Leo complimented.

Abby scowled at him, " _Actually_? You say it like I'm not the one who continuously has the brilliant ideas. I'm the brains of this whole operation." She motioned around the group, "Like you guys could actually fix what _those idiots_ broke." She pointed to Huck and Jake.

"We apologized." Jake protested.

Quinn rolled her eyes, "When? Because I'm pretty sure the rest of us, including Liv and Fitz, missed that memo." Jake and Huck both opened their mouths to argue, but wound up sputtering when they realized they hadn't actually apologized for sending Olivia and Fitz into tailspins. They may not agree with who they were dating, but they still ruined something good. "I thought so." Quinn murmured standing, "I'm getting another bottle of wine."

SCANDAL

Olivia's back arched and she hitched her leg higher on Fitz's hip, trying to draw him in deeper. He was taking her slowly, too slowly, "Harder, Fitz." She begged.

He nipped at her collarbones, "Love it when you beg." He murmured, his hips snapping harder into hers, the sound of flesh slapping against flesh echoing around them. She didn't respond with words, just louder moans as her hands scrambled for purchase on his forearms, her fingernails leaving angry marks as she tried to hold onto him.

She came with a silent cry, stars popping behind her eyes. When she finally opened her eyes, she was greeted with the sight of Fitz panting against her, his face pressed up against her chest, "Fuck." She murmured.

He tightened his hold on her instinctively, "Don't run, Liv." He murmured.

She shook her head, "No, I mean fuck I can't believe I forgot how good this is. Fuck." She repeated.

He chuckled, his lips skimming over her breast lightly, "I know right, we're very good at this."

She hummed, lowering her leg slightly and moving up to the center of the bed, curling in on her side, "Your bed is more comfortable than mine." She admitted with a yawn, stretching a bit like a cat.

His hand ghosted up her side, "Perhaps. I think it's better with you in it." He pressed a kiss to her shoulder and stood.

She let out a whine of protest, "Where are you going?"

"Water and a washcloth. I'll be right back." He promised. When he came back into the room, she was tucked up under the comforter. "Drink." He ordered, handing her the water.

She gratefully chugged half the glass down, letting him clean them up before he slid into bed next to her, "Fitz?" She asked.

"Yeah, Livie?"

"I was wrong. And I'm sorry and if you can forgive me for walking out that door, I want to try again."

He tipped her chin up, "You're already forgiven, am I?" She nodded. Grinning he pressed a kiss to her lips, "Sleep, Livie. We get a fresh start tomorrow."

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	20. Chapter 20

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 _These are the hands of fate, you're my Achilles'_ _heel_

* * *

Olivia let out a grumble as she rolled over. Something was blaring near her ear and she didn't know what it was, but she was too tired to figure out how to shut it up. Instead she just pressed her head further into the pillow, trying to block it out. She was warm and comfortable and didn't want to be disturbed for at least another three hours.

"Livie, that's your phone." Fitz grumbled.

"Let it ring." She replied. She was comfortable, her back nestled against Fitz's chest, his arm holding her tightly against him. She was half on her stomach, her arm flung out over the edge of the bed and her face half in the pillow. They'd been up most of the night, going between long rounds of talking and long rounds of mind-blowing sex. After last night she was wondering what the hell she'd been thinking to ever walk away from the man lying next to her. He may not be a perfect person (not that she could claim to be one either), but he was perfect for her. It was like he was made to be with her. Like they should navigate through life together as a team. It sounded so cheesy in her own head, but she couldn't help, but feel that this was how it was supposed to be, this is _where_ she was supposed to be.

When her phone stopped ringing, she let out a long sigh. "Finally." Fitz muttered, tugging her closer to him, his lips brushing over the slope of her shoulder lightly before he settled back in.

She shoved her legs back, tangling them with his, "Yup." She agreed. A moment later the silence that cocooned them was broken by her cell phone. " _Fuck_." She groaned.

"You should answer that." Fitz murmured. "You should answer it before I throw it out the window.

"That doesn't sound like a bad plan to me." She muttered. With her eyes closed, Olivia reached over the side of the bed, nearly knocking into the side table as she dug around for her clutch from the night before. She found it and snatched up her phone, "What?" Her typically curt greeting was even shorter than usual.

" _Olivia?_ _"_

"What?" She repeated sharply.

 _There was a sigh at the other end,_ _"_ _Olivia, it's Pauline Nichols from Channel 4. We've met a few times. I just got a concerning phone call from Billy Chambers from the Langston Campaign."_

Olivia sat up suddenly. Fitz groaned, but she just shoved him away, "What did he want?"

" _Can we meet in person? This doesn't feel like a phone conversation."_

"Where do you want to go?"

" _The coffee shop on 4_ _th_ _and Lexington."_ _Pauline replied._

"I'll be there in an hour." Olivia was fully awake now, shoving back the comforter and swinging her legs over the bed. "Up and at 'em, Fitz. We have a coffee date."

He let out a grumble, "You have a coffee date." He corrected, "I have a date with my bed."

She nudged him as she reached down for her dress, "Look, get up, get showered." She ordered. "I'm going to cab it home. Come get me in 45 minutes." She directed.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes as he opened them wearily, "Why?"

"That was Pauline Nichols from Channel 4. It's about Billy." She slid into her heels and pressed in the speed dial for the cab company.

"Fuck." Fitz stood up, rounding the bed to press a kiss to her lips before she dashed out the door. "I'll be there in 45." He promised..

SCANDAL

Fitz and Olivia were ten minutes early to the coffee date. They sat side by side waiting on Pauline to arrive. When the woman walked in, she spotted them instantly. She was frowning as she approached, "I don't remember calling Fitz." She pointed to him.

"What you say to me you might as well say to him because I'm just going to turn around and tell him. Sit." Olivia ordered.

"Coffee first. Sit second." Pauline replied, eyeing Fitz suspiciously.

He scoffed as she walked away, "Well what did I ever do to her?"

"Chances are it's got to do with whatever Billy told her." Olivia tried to placate him. "Billy isn't anyone's fault, but Billy's."

Fitz ran a hand through his hair, "Sometimes I wonder why I got into politics in the first place."

"Because you love the thrill of it." She answered. "And the power of it."

He was going to object to her comments about power when Pauline sat down, "Okay, so him being here," she pointed to Fitz, "is a conflict of interest."

"Really? Because Billy is _his_ ex-employee not mine. Anything he's saying Fitz should know about." Olivia snipped.

"Holy fuck. It's true isn't it? You two are sleeping together?" Pauline shook her head, "Wow, and I thought that was just a rumor. Okay, fine. We'll play your way." She relented, "Billy called the station yesterday to talk to our manager. He is going to come on this afternoon. He says he's got dirt on the Davis campaign. Proof that they're running an illegal campaign."

"Mother-" Olivia grunted, slamming her fist on the tabletop. She looked up at Fitz, "We have to stop him."

"And how exactly are we going to permanently do that without actually getting rid of him?" Fitz asked. "I mean, if he doesn't talk now, he'll just talk later." He pointed out.

"I'm thinking." Olivia held up a hand, her fingers tapping quickly against the scarred wooden tabletop.

"Well think fast, Olivia." Pauline advised looking down at her phone, "Because he just moved his meeting up. He'll be at the station in an hour."

"I want a copy of his statement to the press." She ordered Pauline, standing up, "Fitz, go find Sally a microphone she can talk into. I need to prep her statement."

"Her statement?" Fitz asked.

"Yes," Olivia shrugged into her blazer, "Sally is going on national television and denouncing Billy."

SCANDAL

 _Thirty Minutes Later_

Olivia stood across from the Sally Langston in a back officer, her hands resting by her side, her posture seemingly relaxed. She was trying to exude confidence, she was trying to trick Sally into thinking that _she_ was the one being boxed into the corner, not Edison.

Unfortunately for Olivia, Sally wasn't having it, "Look, Ms. Pope," Sally began calmly, her accent smooth and musical, "while I certainly agree that Billy's behavior has been inappropriate," Olivia snorted at just how understated that was, "I am not in the business of badmouthing anyone, including former employees. Now, I have already severed my ties with him, I do believe that's enough. Good day, Ms. Pope." She moved around Olivia and to the office door, opening it.

Olivia knew a dismissal when she saw one and even though she did not want to leave without Sally agreeing to speak to the media about Billy, she knew she wouldn't get anywhere with the infuriatingly stubborn woman at that moment. "Ms. Langston." She nodded sharply before exiting.

Once Olivia was in her car, she pulled her cell phone out, "Fitz?"

" _Pauline is set. She's got the notes from Billy's meeting and she's got a microphone ready for Sally."_

"That's great, but Sally won't bite." Olivia sighed, "She won't denounce Billy any more than she's already done."

 _Fitz let out a low growl, "Allow me. I'll be at the office in ten minutes."_

"I'll let you handle her alone. I've got to get to headquarters. We need to prep for damage control."

" _I'll see you tonight then."_

"Tonight." Olivia agreed.

SCANDAL

 _Two Hours Later_

"And if they air the interview?" Edison asked, "What did he say?"

"He said that you paid him to destroy Langston's campaign." Olivia flipped through the notes Pauline had given her, "and that you slept with Amanda Tanner and then fired her so she couldn't say anything."

"I never touched that girl. I didn't even know who she was!" Edison screamed.

"I know that, Edison." Olivia tried to calm him down. "Look, we're going to ruin his credibility. I've been in contact with Fitz Grant at the Langston campaign. He's agreed to try to convince Sally to speak on our behalf and"

"It's too late." Abby pushed the door open, "Billy's interview is on now." She reached for the remote, flicking on the television to the local channel.

"Shit." She groaned, digging her phone out of her purse, "Fitz, the interview is on."

" _I know, Liv, don't worry."_

"Don't worry? I thought you were handling Sally!" She screeched.

" _I am and we're about to overshadow this little local news segment." He chuckled._

"How in the hell are you going to do that?" She snapped.

" _Turn on Fox News." Fitz chuckled. He waited until he heard Olivia suck in a breath, "Billy went to a local station, so we one upped him with a national one. One that has a local affiliate that is going to broadcast the coverage as well."_

Olivia turned up the volume:

" _Good afternoon my fellow Americans. I am deeply saddened by the events that have transpired today. Billy Chambers, my former chief of staff, is spreading vicious rumors about my opponent and ruining the reputation of an innocent young woman at the same time. My campaign is a clean campaign, I will not win by slandering my opponents. So, it is with that in mind that I would like to clear the air. Billy Chambers was not hired by Edison Davis to work for my campaign. I hired Billy and I vetted him myself. He is a firm believer in what I stand for. Unfortunately, he has lost his way and taken to underhanded tactics to try to get me elected senator of Georgia. This is not the way to win. As for the accusations regarding an inappropriate relationship happening in the Davis camp, I can only say that I have known Edison Davis for quite some time, and though we differ in our political and spiritual beliefs, I still know him to be a good man of sound mind and values. I believe that these lies are vengeful tactics being used by Billy Chambers to sway the people of Georgia in my favor and I cannot, in good conscious, win votes that way." She paused, "Thank you, and God bless America."_

Olivia muted the television, "Good work, Fitz." She hung up.

"Good work?" Edison yelled, "She came out looking like a bed of roses and"

"And now Billy can't come back and attack you again. She shut him down. "I know it makes her look great, but it was the only way to ensure we don't have a Billy problem without permanently eliminating him."

Edison let out a groan and slumped into a chair, his shoulders falling forward in defeat, "Fine, I get it, but I don't like it."

She rested a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze of support, "I know, Edison, but it was the best way. Now we've got a speech prepared for you. Then we can move on from this mess."

SCANDAL

" _Good evening, I want to start by thanking Sally Langston for her kind words of support. We may be in the middle of an election, but it is comforting to know that we can still support each other in these trying times. It also gives me hope that no matter who is elected, the people of Georgia are in honest hands. As for the issues with Billy Chambers and Amanda Tanner, I would like to take this moment to deny any sort of relationship with Ms. Tanner. I never worked with her personally and did not know her well. Nothing ever transpired between us. I would also like to state, for the record, that I never paid Billy Chambers to pass on secrets from the Langston campaign. These are baseless accusations with no evidence behind them. As a campaign, we are looking forward to moving on from this ordeal so that we can serve the people of Georgia. Thank you and God bless."_

Fitz cut off the television in his bedroom and looked down at Olivia. "Nicely done."

"It was a bit defensive, but that's about all we could do. Sally came off well. Her numbers are up." Olivia commented.

"True, but tomorrow is a new day." He shrugged, "We'll see what that holds."

"Indeed we will." Olivia yawned and rolled over, fitting her back against his chest, "Night, Fitz."

He hummed reaching over to flick the lamp off before tugging her tightly against him, "Night, Livie."

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	21. Chapter 21

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

 _ **AN: Wow, I am overwhelmed by the love for this story. Thank you guys for sticking with me through my writing hiatus. All y'all are seriously amazing. Thank you so much. Now, on for more Olitz goodness! ~ XOXO MAS**_

* * *

 _This is the golden age of something good and right and real_

* * *

 _Two Weeks Later – Langston Campaign Headquarters_

Sally stared down at the email in front of her. She wasn't sure if what she was reading was true or not, but after the scandal with Billy, she couldn't take any chances. She wasn't sure when her campaign had turned from simple to complicated. She and Edison had run clean campaigns. It was a nice change from the typical side of politics. Neither had too much to hide and neither was willing to go digging to dredge up anything that would destroy the other's character. Even though Sally hated all Democrats on principle, Edison would not be a bad candidate for Georgia. He would take care of their people just as she would.

It was with a resigned sigh that she pushed herself up to a standing position and slowly made her way into the main room. She found Fitz hunched over a phone, showing an older volunteer how to use their phone bank system. She waited until he stepped back, "Fitz, can you come into my office?" She requested.

Fitz let out a distracted hum before following her back, picking up a clipboard with the revised schedule to review with her on the way. She shut the door behind them, "So," he began, "we've started shifting around your time up in the northwest. You're lacking there and"

"Please, sit, Fitz. We need to talk." She interrupted, motioning to one of the chairs across from her desk.

He was surprised when she took the other chair, leaning towards him, her eyes sad and her face pulled into a frown, "Sally," he began warily, "is everything alright?" It had been two weeks without any sign of Billy or Amanda. Jake and Huck said Amanda moved home to the Midwest. They would likely never hear from her again.

Sally leaned back in her chair, "I'm very sorry to do this, Fitz, but I'm afraid I have no other choice."

Fitz felt his stomach drop. He knew what those words led to, "Do what, Sally?" He asked.

"I'm afraid that I'm going to have to let you go." Her voice dropped uncertainly when she finally said the words out loud.

"What?"

"With everything that's going on, and some news I've recently heard," she paused, "I'm afraid that you're a liability to this campaign and I'm going to have to let you go."

Fitz leaned back, letting out a long breath, "I'm sorry, but did you just say what you've recently heard?" Sally nodded in confirmation, "What have you heard? What's going on?" He snapped.

Rounding her desk, Sally pulled out an envelope. "Here is your last pay check." She held it out, "I'm sorry, Fitz."

Fitz hesitated, realizing quickly that Sally wasn't going to answer any questions he had. He took the envelope with a mumbled thanks and good luck before moving back into his office to collect a few of his belongings. He exited out the back to avoid speaking with Leo or Jake. He needed to find Olivia, he needed to know what would've made Sally fire him with no warning.

SCANDAL

"What?" Olivia sighed as she picked up her phone. Super Saturday was just around the corner and thanks to the Billy sideshow they were running behind schedule.

" _I need to see you." Fitz murmured._

"Fitz, I'd love to, but we're busy. Aren't you busy? There's no way that you're anymore prepared for Super Saturday than we are." She snapped.

" _Olivia," she paused at how serious he sounded, "it's important. I'm already in the parking lot."_

She looked up to find his car parked next to hers. She let out a grunt and hung up, waving off another staffer to head towards Fitz's car. She climbed in and faced him, "What happened now?" She asked.

He ran a hand through his hair, "I got fired."

A bark of laughter escaped Olivia, "Funny, Fitz. If you wanted a nooner you could skip the dramatics and just kiss me already. You know I have zero self-control where you're involved anyhow." She leaned over the center console to kiss him, but he lightly shoved her back. She frowned, "Fitz?"

"I'm serious, Liv." He handed out the envelope with his final paycheck in it.

With wide eyes she asked, "What the hell? Did Sally say _why_ she fired you?"

"She said she heard some things. . ." his voice trailed off, "I'm just not sure what she would've heard."

Olivia let out a growl, "Well, she's about to hear a lot from me." She moved to throw open the car door, but he stopped her. "Let go, Fitzgerald. I'm going to go kick her scrawny little southern ass all the way to California."

"Olivia, I don't need this reaction from you." He murmured, "I need you to help me figure out what she could've heard and who could've talked to her. Please?" He requested. "I need a gladiator. Not an angry girlfriend."

Taking four deep breaths, Olivia nodded, "Alright, I can do that." She agreed. "Did she give you anything else?"

He shook his head no, "There was an email on her desk she was doing her best to hide."

"Email. That's hackable. That's Huck." She nodded, "Look, I'm going to send him to your apartment." She laced their hands together and gave his a gentle squeeze, "No sulking. We'll figure this out." She promised him.

He leaned over and brushed his lips against hers, "Thank you, Liv. For some reason, I don't trust Jake to figure this out."

She shrugged, "I don't trust him either." She agreed, "Huck will handle it." She promised before leaving him alone in his car with a parting smile.

SCANDAL

Huck was uncomfortable. He did not like interacting with people outside of Olivia, Quinn, Abby and Harrison, and the latter three were a stretch for him on a good day. He certainly did not want to sit in Fitz's apartment and hack into Sally Langston's computer to find out who was working to get him fired. It had to be Billy. All roads led back to the maniac who wanted to destroy them all because Sally was going to lose the election. It was the only thing that made sense.

Still he was sitting at Fitz's kitchen table while the man aimlessly tidied up his already spotless apartment. "You sure I can't get you anything?" Fitz finally asked again.

"I'm fine. I'm in." Huck responded.

"You're in?" Fitz asked, skidding to the table and pulling a chair out with a loud screech.

Huck just barely refrained from rolling his eyes. "Yeah." He shuffled through her email, finding it at the bottom of her inbox. Flagged. It was like she wanted it to be found.

"Who's it from?" Fitz asked impatiently.

"Anonymous." Huck replied, opening up a new tab on his computer and typing what looked like a set of random numbers in.

"How will you find out who it is?" He asked.

"I'm working on it." Huck replied, "And space is helpful."

Fitz let out a low snort and stood, "Fine, I'll do some laundry." Huck breathed out an audible sigh of relief when Fitz stepped away and for a moment Fitz was left wondering if maybe he should've just trusted Jake to begin with.

SCANDAL

Abby hung up her cell phone and narrowed her eyes in on Olivia, "How come you didn't tell me?" She asked, approaching her friend with a frown, "Why did I have to hear from Leo who didn't even hear it from Fitz? He heard it from Sally when she _promoted_ _Jake_."

Olivia dropped her clipboard, "She promoted _Jake_?" Olivia asked sharply.

"Yeah, Liv, what the hell is going on?"

"I don't know yet, but Huck is trying to find out. So, shh, shh, quiet, like a bunny." Olivia muttered before going off in search of Quinn and Harrison. When she found them, she pulled them and Abby into one of the offices. "Quinn, I need you to run a full background on Jake."

"On Jake?" Quinn echoed, "Why? What's happening?"

"Abby, Harrison, you're going to tail him. I want to know every step he takes." She ordered.

"Okay, I get not really liking Ballard, I mean I don't trust the guy," Harrison spoke up, "but why are we suddenly upping surveillance on him?"

"Because he just replaced Fitz. And I want to know why." Olivia responded sharply, "Now, full cylinders people." She ordered.

SCANDAL

"Olivia?" Edison popped his head into her office, "Can I ask you a question?"

She nodded and set her pen down, "What's up?"

He shut the door and moved to sit on the edge of her desk, "Did you hear that Sally Langston fired Fitz Grant?"

She nodded, "I'm looking into why." She admitted.

Edison's head fell to the side, "Do we care why?"

"I don't know yet. I'm not sure what's going on, but she said she heard something that made her not trust him and"

"Since we trusted him to handle Billy this could affect us." Edison finished. He stood, "Keep up the good work. Our poll numbers are way up right now."

She smiled, "Thanks. Don't worry, we'll get you in office." She promised.

"I don't have anything worry about with you at the helm." He paused in the open doorway, "Is there any other reason you may be looking into why Grant got canned?"

Olivia arched a brow at him, "Why? Do you think there's another reason?"

"Don't answer a question with a question, Olivia. That delay tactic is beneath you." He raised a brow and waited.

Olivia sighed, "Fine. I guess full disclosure is a better policy."

"I know you've been seeing him. I'm not an idiot, Olivia." He murmured. "Besides, I saw the two of you sneak out hotels a time or two." He paused, glancing down at his loafers, "Are you happy?"

She smiled softly at him, "Very."

"And when you weren't happy and working far too much?" He asked.

"We weren't together." She replied.

He nodded, "Alright. Help him out." He agreed, "But make sure I win this election." He playfully warned.

"Consider it handled, Senator." She grinned back. The ringing of her phone was Edison's cue to salute her and leave, shutting her office door behind him. "What?" She asked.

" _The email. It came from Jake Ballard." Huck replied_.

OUAT

XOXO

MAS


	22. Chapter 22

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

 _ **AN: So I want to apologize for the lack of updates again. I know I said I was trying to get back into the swing of things, but then I had to have knee surgery. That threw me for a loop. Not to mention wedding planning has gotten way out of control since my fianc**_ _ **é**_ _ **e travels all of the time, so I**_ _ **'**_ _ **m kind of on my own for it. Anyhow, hopefully now I**_ _ **'**_ _ **m back into the groove. I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter. Yes (finally), this story is coming to a close fairly soon. We**_ _ **'**_ _ **ve got about five more chapters to go. ~ XOXO MAS**_

* * *

 _And I never saw you coming, and I_ _'_ _ll never be the same_

* * *

Olivia paced around Fitz's apartment late that night, a glass of wine in one hand and the other in a fist, "I'm going to beat the shit out of him. I don't care if he's an ex-whatever, I'm going to kill him." She ranted. So far they didn't have anything helpful to indicate what had prompted Jake to send the email to Sally and it was eating Olivia up. She couldn't understand why Jake would _want_ the job. There had to be something in it for him. And either getting Sally in or keeping Sally out of office was unlikely. Someone had promised him something if he did this. She just had to figure out who he was in contact with and what those people could want.

"Liv, you may want to take it down a notch before the neighbors hear death threats being made and call the cops." Harrison advised, glancing tiredly at the door. He and Abby had been in a car all afternoon. They followed Jake from the office to his apartment. No one had tried to contact him and he hadn't met anyone secretly.

"Fuck that shit," Abby snapped as she reached for the bottle, pouring a glass that nearly reached the brim, "I'm going to help kill him." She agreed, nearly spilling her drink in the process.

"Or don't take it down." Leo muttered, shaking his head at the redhead sitting next to him. "And watch the wine, Red. This is a nice couch and I rather like my clothes wine free."

"Seriously? You're not pissed that he fucked with Liv and Fitz and he pretended to be Fitz's friend only to stab him in the back and take his job? He also pretended to be your friend and that doesn't piss you off?" Quinn asked incredulously. "I mean seriously, what a piece of worthless shit. Let's shank him." She suggested.

"There will be no shanking of anyone." Fitz stated from his chair, "Or any other kind of murder." He cut Abby off before she could open her mouth to protest.

"Well, you're just a bunch of no fun today." Abby muttered, topping off her glass.

"Sorry if me getting fired ruins your fun." Fitz muttered, "But I have more important things to do than plan a murder we couldn't actually get away with." He snapped. "The last thing I want to do is bail my girlfriend and our friends out of jail today. I've got enough going on without spending a copious amount of time at the police station."

"I could." All eyes spun to Huck. "I'm just saying, I could get away with murder." He shrugged. "If you wanted me to." He offered absently before turning back to his computer.

"Okay, there will be no actual murders." Olivia interrupted picking up the wine bottle and filling her glass up. She paced quietly for a moment, just sipping her wine as she thought through her next move. She needed a plan, she just wasn't quite sure where to start. "Look, what we need to focus on is the _why_. _Why_ is Jake doing this? Who is backing him? We need details, once we have those then we can form a plan to oust him and whoever he's in bed with." She turned to Fitz, "I'm so sorry, baby, but I don't think we're going to get you back into those campaign headquarters as quickly as either of us hoped. For whatever reason, Sally believes and trusts Jake. Us going in there and telling her that he sent the email, even with proof of the chain," she motioned to Huck and his laptop, "more than likely won't change her mind. We need something that connects him to Billy or to some other big bad. Also, why would he want to be in charge of Sally's campaign? Is it to make sure she's elected or _not_ elected? I need answers to the question _why_ , people."

Leo straightened in his chair, "Alright, Liv, then we need a game plan. There was nothing in the tail Abby and Harrison did today that indicated he was going to meet anyone and the cameras Huck installed haven't shown him leaving his apartment."

"We need to get audio and video in there." Huck piped up. "I could also use access to his laptop. I need to get into his system somehow so I can see what he's up to."

"You think he's keeping shit like that on his work laptop?" Harrison asked, "Even _I_ would know better than that."

"No," Huck was shaking his head, "this would be personal. It wouldn't look like a normal laptop either. It'd be like this." He tapped on the cover of his laptop.

"Okay, so go in tomorrow while he's at the headquarters." Olivia faced Huck, "But do a sweep before hand. I don't want _you_ on any of his or anyone else's cameras." She instructed. She paused, "Fitz, I want you to get Jake to meet you for a beer tomorrow night."

Fitz snorted, "Not likely, Liv. I don't want to spend any time with him."

"Well, too bad. Suck it up, buttercup." Olivia replied, "It'll be easier for Abby and Leo to search his car tomorrow night in a dark parking lot at a bar while he's drinking. He'll be sloppier."

She rocked on her heels, "Harrison, you're going to be running our headquarters tomorrow. I'm going to work with Huck to try to track Billy and Amanda down. I want to know if either of them have any connection to Jake."

"And what about me?" Fitz asked. "Until the beer that is."

"You're going to get into headquarters." Olivia answered.

"And I'll be doing that how?" He asked with an arched brow.

"You can't tell me that you don't have stolen sticky notes or something in this apartment? Go in there to return something or get something you forgot. You'll go in and get whatever it was Leo found."

"What did Leo find?" Leo asked.

"Something." Olivia answered. "I don't know what. An email or something. You're going to find something and you're going to pass it off to Fitz. Also, it will give Fitz a chance to gauge the reactions of the other staff members to see if any of them are involved."

"Abby, you're going to get in with our staff and see if we have another Amanda Tanner problem." She finished off her glass of wine. "All cylinders people."

SCANDAL

Olivia twisted her hair up into a ponytail, "Okay, Huck, give me the file you got. I'm going to start going through everything for some connection." She took what Huck had and started to spread it out on the kitchen table in Fitz's apartment. "Fitz!" She screeched, "Get out here and help me. You can't go in, yet. You've got to give Leo a couple of hours to search through Sally's office and Jake's things."

Huck shouldered his bag, "I'm heading over to Jake's now." He told her. "I'll be back soon."

"Thanks, Huck." Olivia replied absently as she began to sift through the information Huck printed for her. "Drink the tea and eat the toast." Fitz set a cup and a plate next to one of the files. "You need to eat something, Liv. You can't quit eating just because we're working." He took a sip of his own coffee, "Now, give me something to read."

SCANDAL

Leo glanced over his shoulder. No one seemed to be paying any attention to him, so he darted quickly into Sally's office. She was out front making calls with volunteers, trying to connect with some of her voters. He shut the door quietly and moved to her desk. He shuffled methodically and quickly through the papers. Mostly it was just poll numbers and campaign research (much of it he'd personally given to Sally). Quietly, he opened the drawers, going through what was (obsessively) organized in each of them.

He let out a small grunt when he found the bottom drawer locked. He shuffled through the top drawer until he found a set of keys (clearly Sally was no wizard at hiding things). He opened the drawer and found a file. Without bothering to read through it, he took pictures on his phone of everything in the file before locking the drawer and slipping out of the office, afraid of lingering too long.

SCANDAL

Abby moved easily through the volunteers and other staffers. She listened into conversations as she passed out revised schedules and new polling data. She didn't want to miss anything important. So far she wasn't hearing anything important though. Most were making phone calls, but the rest were having conversations either about the campaign or about personal issues that had no bearing on what was happening to Fitz.

SCANDAL

When Huck pulled up to Fitz's apartment, he immediately noted an unmarked van parked across the street. It looked like a work truck, something no one would ever notice. Taking out a camera, Huck snapped a few photos before slipping out of his car and moving around to the back of the building.

SCANDAL

Huck arrived back at Fitz's apartment at the same time Fitz was leaving with a file that he'd managed to scrounge up to drop off at the office. Leo had a flash drive for him that he'd copied from Sally's computer and he'd already emailed a series of pictures. This would give everyone more time to go through whatever he'd managed to find while he and Abby searched Jake's car. He just hoped something helpful was there.

"Do you guys have anything?" Huck asked as he closed the door and set his bag on the ground.

"I've got a trail, I'm just not sure where it leads. It's the same bank account number though. It keeps popping up all over the place. Think you can trace it?" Olivia asked, motioning to the same number that was highlighted.

Huck walked up to the wall that Olivia had taken over to map out what they had, "Yeah, I can do that." He pulled his laptop out and started typing away.

SCANDAL

Fitz caught Jake in the entry way of the headquarters. "Fitz," Jake looked startled to see the former manager. "What are you doing here?"

"I ran across this today. I thought you guys might like it back." He held out a file. "And I was hoping to see you." He admitted.

"Me? Why?" Jake asked, scratching the back of his head.

"I was hoping we could have a beer. You know, to talk" Fitz began.

"About me taking your job. Look, I know it looks bad, but I didn't think it would be a good idea to say no and I had nothing to"

"I know, Jake. I mean, why on earth would take my job purposefully." Fitz chuckled lightly. "Anyhow, can I buy you a drink tonight?"

Jake studied his friend for a moment, "Yeah, sure, 9?"

"9 is perfect." Fitz agreed.

"Fitz!" Both men turned at Leo's voice. "How you doing, man?" He asked, holding out a hand for Fitz to shake. Jake took that moment to slip out of the conversation, giving Leo a chance to hand over the flash drive. "Good luck tonight." Leo murmured.

Fitz grinned, "You too."

When he got back to the apartment, he found Olivia and Huck in an intense conversation. "Hey, what's going on?" He asked. "Did you find out where the bank account came from?"

Olivia glanced down at her feet and then up at him, "Yeah, Huck found it."

"Well?" Fitz pushed the flash drive towards Huck, "Leo found that. So? Who's account is it?"

Olivia took a deep breath, "Your father's."

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	23. Chapter 23

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 _And I never saw you coming, and I'll never be the same_

* * *

Fitz stared at the account number that was taped up to the wall underneath a picture of his father. _His father_. He hadn't spoken to his father in two years. It had been two years of blissful silence. Big Jerry Grant, a national treasure, current senator and former governor of California had been furious when Fitz enlisted in the Navy, even more so when he reenlisted and then completely pissed off when he _"wasted his law degree and his pedigree"_ by becoming a fixer.

This could be his ultimate revenge.

Word had already gotten out that Fitz had been fired and his friend, who had no experience in campaigns, was devastating to his reputation.

"Fitz?" Olivia's voice was concerned. He was just staring at his father's picture and bank account number. Tentatively, she approached him, reaching her hand out to touch his forearm gently, "Hey, talk to me." She requested softly.

Slowly, Fitz turned, "I know why he's doing this."

Olivia's brow rose, "You do?"

"This is payback, the ultimate revenge." Fitz responded gruffly.

Turning, Olivia faced Huck, "Give us a moment, please." She requested. Murmuring under his breath, Huck packed up his laptop and left them alone in the apartment. When the door shut, Olivia pulled Fitz away from the wall and over to the sofa. Pushing him down, she curled up next to him, "Why does your father want revenge?"

Scrubbing his hand over his face, Fitz sighed, "I haven't told you about my family." He admitted.

"You said you're not close to them." Olivia murmured.

"I'm not. The only family I have left is my father. He was, is, a terrible person. My entire life all I can remember is him talking about me being President and the two of us being in the White House in some political marriage while he screwed whatever walked past him." Olivia's face fell at his words. Reaching out, she combed her fingers through his hair, cradling him against her chest. "He just wanted me for my charisma. He wanted to control everything."

"You didn't let him, though, did you?" She asked quietly.

"No, I didn't. I joined the Navy." He chuckled, "And then I reenlisted and was honorably discharged after being shot down. When I went to Harvard for law school, I started dating this woman, Mellie. She was from a rich, southern family, but I didn't realize it was a set up until I was in love with her." He sighed, "I thought she was a warm and kind person. I thought she wanted me to mend my relationship with my father so that I would have what was left of my family back. Then the two of them started talking about me running for governor of California and then president and that was when it hit me."

Olivia's head fell to the side, "What hit you?"

"They were working together. More than that, they were _sleeping_ together." He grimaced. "Then I found out she was also sleeping with my best friend, Andrew Nichols."

Olivia frowned, "Nichols is the governor now, right?" She asked.

Fitz nodded, "Yup, he's up for reelection this year." Fitz sighed, "I left. I went back to Boston, finished law school, dumped Mellie and took a job in Iowa on a campaign. I didn't think anyone would follow me there." He admitted. "And we won."

"You're good at your job, Fitz. You're more than just good, you're one of the best. Of course you won." She smiled softly at him. It was true. He was incredibly talented, able to figure out what the voters wanted before they even knew themselves.

"I thought so, so I went and worked on an emergency seat in Indiana. I just stayed in the flyovers for a bit, knowing that no one would follow me there. When I moved to DC, my father showed up with Mellie in tow. They tried to get me back, thought that my interest in politics would lead me to the White House." He shrugged, "It won't." He deadpanned. "I would love to work on a presidential campaign, but I wouldn't want to stay on and work in the White House. It's just not where my heart is."

Olivia nodded understandingly, "You should do what you love, Fitz. You shouldn't just do what someone else wants you to do. And we'll get you back to doing what you love." She promised.

"How?" He asked.

"By getting Jake to talk." She decided.

"He's been trained by the best. An organization called B-613 and"

"And so was Huck. And Huck will get what we need out of him." She promised. "And while he's doing that, Abby is going to break into his car and his apartment."

"That's illegal. Everything we're talking about doing is illegal and"

"And we need to stop your father. Sometimes bad guys make the best good guys, right?" She shrugged at his pointed look, "Or something like that. Look, we're going to flush him out. We're going to get Jake to turn on him by figuring out what Jake was promised and taking it away." She studied him for a moment, "If you don't want to"

"No, let's do it." Fitz sat up straight, "Big Jerry doesn't think I have the balls to play in the big leagues, let's prove him wrong."

SCANDAL

Jake could feel someone watching him, someone following him. It was like a spider was crawling up his neck, the feeling so eerie. He glanced over his shoulder as he moved to his car. He heard a wisp of something, a small sound that was out of place. He reached for his gun, but everything went black.

SCANDAL

Jake opened his eyes and groaned. His head hurt. It reminded him of one particular beating he took in that camp in the Middle East, where they'd struck him in the head to unconsciousness. When he woke up the pain had been so immense he wished he'd black out again. He tried to push himself up and something crinkled underneath him. It felt and sounded like plastic. He blinked until his blurred vision finally came into focus. His assessed his situation quickly. He was bound on a piece of tarp in a warehouse and Huck was sitting in a chair with tools surrounding him.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Huck murmured. "So, I have a proposition for you." He offered, "If you tell me everything I need to know and you don't tell anyone that you sold out Big Jerry, then I will let you walk away. Call it professional curtesy." He nodded, "If you don't, however, I will make this very painful. And I can't guarantee that you will walk out with all of your body parts intact."

Silence.

Huck shrugged and stood up, slipping out of his red sweatshirt. "More fun for me." He admitted, "I like it when people think they're tough." He squatted down next to the tools laid out on the floor. "So, I want to know why Big Jerry Grant hired you and what he promised you. Then I want you to go to Sally and tell her to hire Fitz back because Fitz was set up. I want you to show proof. I want you to use Sally to take down Big Jerry." He picked up a drill and screwed on a bit, "And by the time we're through here, you will." He turned the drill on, the screeching noise it made bouncing off the walls. Jake knew his screams of pain were only going to spur Huck on, the acoustics of this particular warehouse were perfect. He considered saying whatever he could to get Huck to stop before his training kicked in.

Silence.

"This is going to be fun. I haven't done this in a long time, Jake." Huck admitted, crawling over to him. "It's like being an alcoholic. I haven't had any whiskey in years, and now I'm going to take my first sip and it's going to taste so good. Feel so good." He let out a content sigh, "I'm not sure I'll be able to stop." He pressed the drill to Jake's thigh.

Screams.

SCANDAL

Olivia paced Fitz's apartment as they waited for news from Abby, Harrison and Leo. Harrison was breaking into Jake's car, Abby into his apartment and Leo into his office. Someone would come up with something. She was also waiting on Huck. Huck would get her a confession. She knew he would. He would get whatever he needed out of Jake. The thought made her stomach churn and she felt her white hat darken a bit at her decision. Still, whatever Jake was up to was bad. There was a chance that it could do more than just hurt Fitz's reputation. Her gut was telling her that Big Jerry had something huge planned and getting Sally elected was just the beginning.

When the door opened she still, "Leo, did you find anything?"

"I stole his work laptop. I doubt there will be much on it, but I thought we could go through it. I'm fairly good with technology. I'm not Huck, but I can break in and do it quietly." He offered.

"Good, think you'll be able to break into his personal laptop when we get it?" She asked.

He shrugged and sat down at the kitchen table, booting the laptop up, "Depends. It's probably way more sophisticated. We'll probably have to wait on Huck for that." He started typing away at the computer in front of him. Olivia hummed absently, turning away from him so he could work in peace. Instead she continued her pacing until the door pushed open again.

Abby entered waving a laptop in the air. "It's like the industrial strength nerd laptop." She admitted, letting it land on the table with a bang. "It's gonna take, Huck. Where is he anyhow?"

"He'll be back soon." Olivia murmured. "Find anything?"

Abby snorted, "Yeah, a wall of creepy. Look at these photos." She pulled her camera out of her bag and started flipping through pictures. His wall looked a lot like the one they had up in Fitz's apartment.

"Oh my god," Olivia murmured. "He's not trying to make sure Sally wins. He's trying to make sure she loses."

"Why?" Leo asked absently.

"So he can blow Edison up." She answered.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	24. Chapter 24

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 _This is a state of grace_

* * *

"He wants to blow Edison up?" Leo asked, snatching the camera out of Olivia's hands. "Why would he want to do that if he wants Edison to win? God, Harrison and Quinn are watching Edison so this doesn't happen now, right?"

"It's terrorism." Fitz leaned against the wall. "You put someone in office, you make the people comfortable, then you start an all out war by having them assassinated. The question remains, though, why a US senator from Georgia? Why not the Vice President or the President? A senator seems so small." He asked.

"Maybe there's something about Edison we don't know. A stance on an issue that could make him valuable? Or" Abby started to rattle off.

"Or perhaps it's Edison's interest in the Intelligence Committee?" Huck stood in the doorway, his hands shoved in the pockets of his hoodie, his eyes downcast on the floor.

"The Intelligence Committee?" Olivia asked, "Of course!" She groaned, "If Edison wins, that's his top priority. He wants to get on it to make sure that the government isn't abusing its power." She shook her head, "God, I feel like an idiot." She grumbled.

"Okay, wait a minute. Let's just back up a little bit. Davis would still be a junior senator with no actual power and" Leo tried to put the pieces together.

"That's not what it's about." Fitz interrupted Leo's ramblings. "It's about scaring America and rattling the committee. The people will be terrified that a United States senator was nearly killed. The committee and the rest of the government will be afraid that it has to do with his work on the Intelligence Committee."

"But if Sally wins, she'll be a senator and" Abby argued.

"And she hasn't indicated she wants to be on any special committees. There must be something particular about that one committee." Leo pointed out.

"Someone maybe backing your father." Olivia murmured, "Who could possibly be backing him?"

Huck cleared his throat, making his presence known once again. "Olivia," he spoke up, "I need to speak with you alone."

"Not now, Huck." She waved him off, "Right now I need you to do an even more thorough look at Senator Grant's background."

"Of course, Olivia, but I need to speak with you alone _right now_." He repeated.

Olivia spun at his tone, "What now?"

"Your room." He motioned to Olivia's bedroom before stalking towards it. With a sigh of resignation, Olivia followed him into her room. Shutting the door, she waited patiently for him to speak, "It's _your_ father." He told her.

Olivia froze and swallowed hard, "What about him?" She asked stupidly.

"Big Jerry Grant is in his pocket. Jake was like me. He was B-613." Huck explained.

"We know this." Olivia snapped sharply.

"He was one of Command's favorites." Huck stared over her head as he spoke to her, "He's still free lancing. He and Fitz met in the military before Fitz was a part of B-613." He continued, "When Fitz brought Jake on, Command decided to force Jake back into working for him, probably through blackmail." He murmured the end thoughtfully.

"You're sure he's behind this?" Olivia asked, pacing in a straight line back and forth between the door and the far window. "If we get involved with this and we're facing off with _him_ then we're getting in hot water. We have to be _sure_."

"I'm sure it's him." Huck confirmed, "Jake," he paused, "told me."

Olivia's brow furrowed, "What do you mean 'told' you?" She asked slowly.

"It doesn't matter." Huck continued to stare at the wall over Olivia's head. "This is where we stop, though."

"Stop." Olivia repeated.

"Yes, we don't pursue this. You and I need to stay as far away from Command as possible." He planted his feet firmly on the ground and straightened. His stance left no room for argument.

"You have got to be kidding me." Olivia muttered. "Look, Huck, I know who my father is and I know how bad he is, but Edison's life is in danger. He's a good man. Like actually good. And we're not going to leave him to die. We're not going to risk his life. We're going to stop this and I need you to do it."

"You don't know." Huck snapped. She arched a brow at him, "No, you don't know how bad your father is. You don't know how dangerous he is."

"He's my father, of course I know!" Olivia screamed.

"No, you don't!" Huck yelled back. Neither heard the door open at their raised voices. "He left you. He sent you off to boarding school. He left you alone. Yes, he abandoned you. He didn't abandon me. He made me into a monster. I did his bidding. I killed for him. Then when I broke one of his rules he threw me into a hole and left me to turn into _this_." He motioned to himself, "So no, you don't know what he's like, but I do."

"Enough!" Fitz screamed above them. He pushed past Huck and was by Olivia's side in an instant. She was quivering, tears in her eyes caused by Huck's rant, "What is it, Livie? What's going on?"

Olivia let him draw her into his embrace, "I'm okay, but Huck, you're wrong." She sniffed, brushing away the tears. "We have to do what's right. We have to wear the white hat."

"White hats, black hats, who cares? We don't tangle with Command!" Huck yelled again.

"What the hell is Command?" Leo asked.

"Command?" Fitz looked down at Olivia, "You know about B-613?"

"What's B-613?" Abby impatiently tapped her toes from her place next to Leo. "And shouldn't we wait for Harrison and Quinn for this conversation?"

Fitz stared down at Olivia, "You need to stay away from B-613. They're dangerous." He warned her, his hands on her shoulders, "Promise me."

"No." Olivia shook him off, "If my father is trying to kill Edison, then I have to stop him."

"Your father is Command?" Fitz asked, "Her father is Rowan?" He asked Huck.

"How do you know about this?" Huck snapped.

"Because I do, because my father got me out of working for them because of Big Jerry. Shit!" Fitz cursed. "Nothing is ever easy. Okay, look, Liv, we can't tangle with your father. We can, however, talk to mine. Let me meet with him. I can get him to stop this and"

"Yes, he backs out and Command loses his fall guy. And someone else takes his place." Huck snapped.

"You have to take down," A groan echoed behind them, "Command." All eyes turned to where Jake stood hunched over looking much worse for the wear, "And I have a plan."

Olivia's eyes were wide, "Huck, what did you do to him?"

"It's okay. I would've done the same." Jake murmured. "Look, I know how to stop your father."

"And how is that?" Huck snapped.

"By taking down _your father_." Jake emphasized the last two words.

"Well, we've gathered that, but it's not that simple." Fitz snapped.

"Okay, I want to back up." Leo held up his hands, "So let's take a time out." Everyone stared at him, "First, I want to know who your father is and what B-613 is." Leo demanded, "And I think we need to conference call Harrison and Quinn in. They're staying on Davis just in case something happens."

With a nod of resignation, Olivia led them back into the living room, waiting as Fitz opened a bottle of wine and a bottle of scotch before they called Harrison. It was a joint effort between Olivia, Fitz, Jake and Huck to tell everyone about the secret society that was B-613 and of Eli 'Rowan' Pope, Olivia's father.

 _Harrison let out a groan through the phone, "Well, then, how do we stop a top secret society and an all-powerful leader?" He asked glibly._

"We don't take down the all-powerful leader." Jake responded, "We take down Olivia's father."

"They're one and the same." Huck deadpanned.

"In body, yes." Jake replied.

Olivia's eyes widened, "But in identities, they're not." She murmured, "We can't take down Rowan Pope, but we can take down Eli Pope."

"And if Eli Pope is say, arrested on some charge, then he'll be put in jail and if he's in jail then technically Rowan Pope is in jail." Jake grinned.

"And surely there's a guard who knows about B-613." Huck murmured, "For the right incentive he or she could be persuaded to ensure that Eli Pope has no communication with anyone from B-613."

"It's genius." Leo nodded, "Okay, so how do we do it?"

"By using the oldest trick in the book." Olivia stood up and grabbed a computer, setting it down in front of Huck, "I want you to move money from the Smithsonian into Eli Pope's account. Make it look like he's embezzling."

"Embezzling, it's a nice touch." Jake groaned slightly, shuffling his position on the sofa as he took a sip of whiskey. "I know a guy who can speed up the arrest."

Nodding, Olivia murmured, "Do it."

SCANDAL

 _Two Days Later_

 _"_ _In other news, Eli Pope, curator of the Smithsonian, was arrested for embezzlement."_

Olivia flicked off the news, "Do you think it was that simple?" She asked quietly as she snuggled into Fitz's side.

He shrugged, his arm tightening around her waist, "Maybe this time. I'm sure we'll have to deal with them again, but at least for now, Big Jerry wants to stay away from that scandal and B-613 and your father is in jail. Let's take the win for right now."

"Mhm, that sounds good." Olivia agreed.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	25. Chapter 25

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

 _ **AN: Here it is. . . The last chapter of State of Grace. I hope you all enjoyed the story. A potential sequel is in the works. I haven't really decided yet. Thank you all so much for your continued support. I really appreciate. Enjoy the last little chapter! ~ XOXO MAS**_

* * *

 _This is the worthwhile fight, love is a ruthless game unless you play it good and right_

* * *

 _Two Months Later_

"I'm not sure I can watch." Olivia admitted, pressing her fingers to her temples.

"Worry less, drink more." Abby pushed a glass of wine in front of her. The Davis Campaign was currently in a bar waiting the results of the election. The past two months had been a whirlwind. They'd gone from being up in the polls to being tied with Sally.

Olivia hoped to never set foot in the state of Georgia again.

She glanced down as her phone buzzed. _Are you as sick to your stomach as I am?_

She grinned at the text from Fitz. After Huck's _talk_ with Jake, he'd stepped down from Sally's campaign, explaining that he'd hacked her email and convinced her to oust Fitz. With her poll numbers down, she'd turned around and begged Fitz to come back. And he had. And he'd promptly eliminated the lead Davis had. Olivia wanted to simultaneously slap him and fuck him for it.

 _No, because we're going to win._ She shot back, even if she wasn't entirely confident Edison would win.

 _A little cocky there, Miss Pope. I like it._

"Seriously, stop sexting Fitz and let's go talk to people. You need to not stare at the TV. They haven't started counting ballots yet." Abby pushed the glass of wine in to Olivia's hand, "Plus, I'm trying to ignore Leo, so I need a distraction."

"You are welcome to ignore your boyfriend," Olivia began taking a sip of the wine before putting it back on the bar and glancing down at her phone, "I would rather torment mine."

"No," Harrison snatched the phone from her hands, "you're socializing with the rest of us." He pocketed her phone, "Edison is looking for you. _Everyone_ is looking for you." He corrected.

"Yes, well I've decided it's better for me not to see people." Olivia picked up her glass of wine.

"And why is that?" Harrison asked impatiently.

"Because of me we're losing." She moaned and dropped her head onto the wooden bar top, banging it a few times for good measure.

"Oh for the love of god, get your ass up. We did not lose. We won." Harrison tugged on the sleeve of her shirt, "Now, up."

"I thought you were supposed to be rousing her?" Quinn snapped as she approached. "What is she still doing sulking at the bar alone?"

"She is right here and does not need to be spoken about as if she weren't in the room." Olivia grumbled, holding her hand out for her phone when she heard it go off in Harrison's pocket. "Phone. Now."

"Nope, you get it back after you socialize." Quinn jerked the bar stool she was seated on out, nearly causing Olivia to fall off of it. "Up you go."

"I hate you all." Olivia sneered, even though there was no real bit behind her words. Picking up her glass of wine, she saluted them before wandering into the main room where Edison, the other staffers and some major donors were floating around waiting for the numbers to start rolling in.

SCANDAL

Fitz stared down at his phone. Olivia wasn't answering. His sole form of entertainment and distraction had probably had her phone taken away by Abby. "A watched pot never boils, Fitzgerald." Leo teased him.

"Shove it up your ass, Leo." Fitz grumbled, tossing back the rest of his scotch.

"Sally thinks we may have this in the bag. The predicted numbers are close enough to call for a recount if need be." Leo ignored his snarky comment and continued on, "Maybe you didn't get back in the game too late to save her campaign. Maybe you are better than Olivia Pope." He whistled, "Wow, words I never thought would be said." He admitted.

Fitz scowled at him, "I'm seriously going to sucker punch you soon."

"It's not a sucker punch if you tell me it's coming." Leo pointed out with a smirk.

"I need better friends." Fitz whined.

"And now you're whining." Leo laughed, "The great Fitzgerald Grant, III is whining. Can I video this and send it to Abby?"

"If I can't talk to Olivia, then you can't talk to Abby tonight." Fitz snatched his phone before he could flip it to video. "Come on, let's go make nice with the donors we disappointed."

Leo scoffed, "Technically, that was Sally for firing you to begin with. Also, it's not your fault you're not as talented as your girlfriend."

"Wait a minute," Fitz held up a hand, "A minute ago I was _more_ talented than her, now I'm not?"

"Eh, it goes back and forth." Leo shoved him, "Come on, I need another drink."

SCANDAL

Olivia watched with bated breath as the numbers rolled in. "Liv, do you think"

"Shh!" She clamped her hand over Abby's mouth, "Don't jinx it." She murmured.

Ten minutes later it was official. By just a few votes, Edison Davis was the new senator of Georgia. "We did it." Harrison held up his hand in high five. Huck shrugged and ignored it, but Quinn slapped it enthusiastically, "Worst campaign ever, but we did it!" He grinned.

"Hopefully that experience will be on the never again list." Olivia agreed with a grin as Abby popped open a bottle of champagne.

The clanging on a glass quieted the room a bit, "I just want to say thank you," Edison grinned, "before I give my acceptance speech, I want to say thank you. This was a hard road, but you all got us here. I want to give a special thanks to Olivia Pope. Liv, you're the best in the business. I'll be calling you for every election I run in from here on out. I can't wait to see what you do next."

SCANDAL

 _Three Months Later – Washington, D.C._

Quinn let out a squeal as Harrison and Leo simultaneously popped open bottles of champagne. Accepting a glass, Olivia held it out, "First of all, I want to say thank you guys for packing up your lives and trusting us." She motioned between herself and Fitz, "And second of all, welcome to Grant, Pope & Associates."

Quinn, Huck, Harrison, Leo, Abby, Fitz and Olivia stood in the conference room of an old apartment complex turned into an office building in downtown DC. The past three months had been a whirlwind of activity as the group moved from their respective cities to DC, found an office and opened up Grant, Pope & Associates, the newest (and best) fixer firm in the country. They already had a client on the line. Jacob Shaw running against an incumbent for Congress from "the great state of Rhode Island" just hired them. They would be packing up for Rhode Island at the end of the week.

"Livie's right, you have no idea how much it means to us that you want to work with us. Between the seven us nothing will be able to stop us. We'll be able to fix every problem and get every client into office."

"To Grant, Pope & Associates." Harrison held up his glass.

"And fresh starts in DC." Quinn chimed in.

"To being fucking awesome." Leo held his glass up.

"Cause we are fucking awesome." Abby agreed, clinking his glass with his. The rest of the room echoed Leo's toast.

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


	26. Chapter 26

_Disclaimer: I do not own Scandal_

* * *

 ** _AN: Due to extenuating circumstances, I will not be doing a sequel to State of Grace. Right now my life is in chaos because of Tim's car accident. So, instead I'm going to throw this little future chapter in so you can see Fitz and Olivia working together post-wedding. Enjoy! ~ XOXO MAS_**

* * *

 _Two Years Later_

"We're going to get killed." Fitz watched as Olivia pressed the button to lower the elevator gates and take them to the top floor of some sketchy building in the warehouse district downtown. Some days he really hated this job. Glancing over at his tiny wife, he could see the thrill on her face. She loved when they wound up in situations like this.

"Wasn't Leo supposed to propose tonight? Weren't you supposed to help set that up?" Olivia asked, her eyes shooting over to her husband's. He looked a bit guilty for abandoning Leo, but not guilty enough to have let Harrison come with her to the drop.

"We're going to get killed. We're $3,000,000 short. And I'm doing _this_ tonight." Fitzgerald Grant, one of the best fixers in DC rolled his eyes at his tiny wife, who was an even better fixer than he was. Two years earlier they'd started their own firm, Grant, Pope  & Associates. They were now known world-wide, which is why they were currently doing a job for the Russian Ambassador. It amazed Fitz that Olivia could be thinking about Leo and Abby's engagement when they were getting ready to meet Ukrainian mobsters and they were $3,000,000 short.

"So you flaked." Olivia surmised with a smirk. Abby was going to kill him for flaking, and she was going to enjoy listening to her best friend berate her husband. She had to get her kicks somehow now that she was an old married woman. "Why are we short?" Olivia questioned. She knew they didn't have all the money, she just hadn't focused on it until now. Confidence was key in this game. And Olivia was confident they would walk away with the package.

"The ambassador couldn't come up with the money in time, which is a problem, a very _big_ problem. And I didn't flake. We're working." He rattled off.

"Don't worry," Olivia's voice was calm, far too calm, "they'll take what we give them. Did Leo at least buy the engagement ring?"

"Ukrainian mobsters do not take what you give them, they just _shoot_ you. So we have bigger things to worry about than Leo not proposing to the crazy redhead we call a friend. We are in a situation here, so focus. Do what you do." Fitz was nervous. Olivia always found it comical when he got nervous. He rambled. She enjoyed listening to him ramble until he got his nerves under control.

The elevator opened up on the top floor of the warehouse and Fitz held out his hand, "Well, Mrs. Grant, are you ready to swindle Ukrainian mobsters out of $3,000,000?" His nerves were now under control.

Smiling up at him, Olivia nodded and slid her hand into his, twining their fingers together. "In exchange for the package? Why, yes, I am, Mr. Grant." She motioned with her hand for him to exit first. The moment they were in view of the mobsters, Olivia took the lead. "Good evening, gentlemen!" Olivia called out, winking up at her husband.

"You've got the money?" One of the mobsters barked out without so much as a greeting and Olivia and Fitz shared a knowing scoff.

"Of course, all $3,000,000." Olivia answered breezily as she dropped Fitz's hand so he could set the large briefcase on the metal table top, opening it for them to see.

Both mobsters glared at them, "We said $6,000,000."

Fitz gave Olivia a little shrug, "Did we?" He asked nonchalantly.

"We did." One of the mobsters confirmed

"We have $3,000,000." Olivia replied, pushing the briefcase in their direction.

"That's a problem." The first mobster replied, crossing his arms as the other adjusted his jacket, making sure they could see the gun on his side.

Olivia did her best not to bristle at the unspoken threat, instead responding, "Well, I have $3,000,000. That's all the ambassador had on such short notice."

The second mobster, and clearly the more intimidating of the two, finally spoke, "Leave the $3,000,000 and when you come back with the other $3,000,000 we have a deal." His words held no room for argument. Olivia and Fitz shared a look and Fitz sent her a nearly imperceptible nod.

"That's not going to happen, Oscar." Olivia stepped up so she was toe-to-toe with him.

"No?" He questioned glibly."

Fitz stood behind Olivia silently. He was a bit of an intimidating man when he stood at his full height, arms crossed, face set in a stony expression. It gave Olivia the room to prattle off an impressive speech. The two of them had this dance perfected now, knowing just how to manipulate a mark into doing what they wanted.

"Nyet." Olivia snapped, "What's going to happen is you and Vlad are going to take the $3,000,000 and leave right now for Dulles to make your flight to the motherland." The mobsters arched their brows in disbelief, but Olivia just continued unperturbed, "The reason you're going to want to go right now, besides the fact that it's just good travel sense to give yourselves enough time for international check in, is in exactly 4 hours and 15 minutes both of your names are going to suddenly _pop up_ on Homeland Security's No Fly List. Lucky for you, you're booked on a flight that leaves in two and a half hours. So if it were me, I'd much rather spend $3,000,000 in Kiev than in Georgetown. Way more bang for your buck. In fact it may even feel like $6,000,000 once you're there."

Olivia and Fitz held their breaths until Oscar nodded to Vlad and shut the briefcase with the money with a loud click, "Good boys. So, since we have a deal. I am going to take what we paid for. I thank you, my client thanks you and I hope to never see you again." Olivia handed the box with the package to Fitz and strode purposefully towards the elevator.

"God I love this job." Fitz muttered under his breath as the elevator shut and started to move down.

SCANDAL

They were back at the office in thirty minutes. It was clear Abby was a bit upset that a proposal, which she _knew_ was being planned for that night didn't happen, so Olivia only felt a little bad for Fitz as the redhead continued to snap at him throughout the night as they snacked on Chinese take out and waited for the ambassador to come pick up the package. Olivia had offered to take Harrison to the drop instead, she'd done her part. "I'm not doing it." Abby snapped at Fitz, nudging the cardboard box towards him.

"Well, I'm not doing it." Fitz muttered, pushing it away with his pinky finger and glaring daggers at Olivia.

"Don't look at me." Olivia held up her hands with a chuckle as the door opened and Harrison and Leo came barging in.

"How'd it go?" Harrison asked with a clap of his hands.

Olivia grinned at Fitz, "We gave them $3,000,000 and they gave us the package." She smirked proudly with a mouthful of noodles.

Fitz shook his head proudly at his wife, "$3,000,000 down, the woman doesn't flinch." He held up his hand in high five and Olivia slapped it.

"We're just waiting for pick up." Quinn replied, spinning in her chair. "And for someone to volunteer to do a diaper change."

"Sorry," Harrison shucked off his coat, "I'm a gladiator, not a babysitter."

When the baby in the box started crying, Olivia picked him up, "So, which one of you idiots wants to gladiate a diaper change?" She held the baby out to the boys just as the doors flew open with Huck right behind the stampeding couple.

"Thank you! When the Russians kidnapped my son, I thought I would never see him again. Anything I can do for you, please let me know." Olivia sighed as the Russian Ambassador's wife took her son, cooing to him softly in Russian.

"If you ever have a daughter, Olivia's a beautiful name." Harrison piped up and Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Mr. Ambassador, you can take your son back to the consulate where he will be safe." Olivia smiled proudly at the man.

"And you can never tell anyone about this." Fitz chuckled, "The FBI is sick of us."

"Of course, thank you." The ambassador passed off a check to Harrison discreetly as he and his wife left.

"Good work everyone. Let's call it a night. I'm exhausted." Olivia held out her hand to Fitz. He slipped his hand into hers. "We'll see everyone in the morning."

SCANDAL

XOXO

MAS


End file.
